NEW TO TOWN: K2 MAKES LOCAL APPEARANCE

A synthetic form of marijuana known as K2 was found in Le Mars in May
- -- before it became illegal in Iowa.

"We recovered a small amount in a search of a residence," said Bob
Bendlin, a Le Mars Police Department senior officer. "To my knowledge
that was our only direct exposure to it as this time."

Bendlin, a member of the Plymouth County Drug Task Force and the
Northwest Iowa Drug Task Force, said officers didn't immediately
recognize the substance as K2.

"We first started to hear a little bit about it I belive in March,"
Bendlin said. "We started to get a couple of distributed emails giving
law enforcement heads up."

K2, also known as Spice, is created from a mixture of herbs sprayed
with chemicals, Bendlin said.

The substance recovered in the Le Mars home was multi-colored flakes
that were like a cross between sawdust and fish food, Bendlin said.

"It was subsequently submitted to the state lab and confirmed as K2,"
he added. "Ironically, that was in May, but it wasn't made illegal to
have it until July 22."

The Iowa Pharmacy Board identified four synthetic compounds sprayed on
K2 as Imitation Controlled Substances, meaning they are subject to
regulations under Iowa Code Chapter 124A.

"They can take emergency action when they feel it benefits the greater
good of the people," Bendlin said. "When they feel people are being
harmed by it, they take this action."

The Iowa Pharmacy Board ruling banning K2 stated the drug is 500 to
800 times more potent than the chemical THC found in marijuana.

Several deaths nationwide have resulted from smoking K2, Bendlin
said.

Some users have experienced harmful side effects such as panic
attacks, anxiety, agitation, elevated blood pressures, rapid heart
rate or respiration, vomiting, hallucinations and seizures.

Bendlin said K2 is sold as incense, but it's common knowledge that
people buy it to smoke.

"The people who sell it know what they are selling and the people who
buy it know what they are buying," Bendlin said.

K2 label packaging identifies its dried contents as a variety of
herbal plants. There is also a warning stating the product is not for
human consumption.

There hasn't been enough K2 recovered to determine what its local cost
might be, but Bendlin heard it's selling for $35 or $40 a gram in
other parts of the country.

Illegal in several other states, K2 remains unregulated elsewhere
across the nation.

The pharmacy board's ruling making it illegal to sell or possess K2 in
Iowa is temporary. It would take action by the Iowa legislative to
make it permanent.

Meanwhile, anyone found possessing or selling K2 will be arrested and
charged just as they would for having any illegal drug of its type,
Bendlin said.

"Like any substance abuse I'm sure it's here in Le Mars," he added. "I
think it's popping up everywhere."

Plymouth County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Singer, also a member of the
county's drug task force and the Northwest Iowa Drug Task Force, had a
similar view.

Singer said even though sheriff's department hasn't recovered any K2
in the county, there has been some found in northwest Iowa.

"We know it's going to counties north of us and coming from counties
south of us. We know it's coming through the county," Singer said.
"It's just a matter of time unfortunately."