K2 INCENSE: SOME CALL IT SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA

It's legal and readily available at local convenience stores, gas
stations and head shops.

Even kids can buy it, and it's also virtually undetectable by the
average employment drug-screen test.

Yet, if Ohio legislators have their way, K2 incense, which comes in a
variety of aromas called "flavors," would be labeled a felony --
because people are smoking it, and they are getting sick.

Several states already have outlawed K2. And several more states are
considering making it illegal after people reportedly died after smoking it.

The substance has been blamed for the July death of a 28-year-old
mother of two from Middletown, Ind. The Aug. 6 death of Dominique
Darrell Tate, 19, of Dallas, Texas, and the June 6 death of David
Rozga, 18, of Indianola, Iowa, are thought to have been caused by the
drug. Rozga reportedly smoked K2, suffered a panic attack, then shot
himself to death.

"Kids look at it like marijuana, and it's much more serious than
that," said Dr. Christopher Long, a forensic toxicologist who heads
the toxicology lab at the St. Louis University in Missouri, a state
where K2 has been banned. "It does have definite cardiac action, which
marijuana really doesn't. And there have been suicides after use."

At least a dozen other countries have banned K2, and 13 states have
deemed it illegal.

Ohio is not on that list.

Not yet.

More people are showing up in hospitals after smoking
K2.

Since early May, Ohio's Cincinnati-based poison control center has
received 16 K2-related calls reporting rapid heart rates, nausea,
vomiting, confusion "and other psychiatric symptoms," said Rob Goetz,
a poison information specialist. Seven of those calls came from
hospitals, two of which were in Stark County.

The number of people with K2-related illnesses could be much
higher.

"If you're a physician in an emergency room treating 100 cases of
this, you're not likely to call poison control (requesting
information)," Goetz said.

WHAT IS K2?

Goetz said poison control agents originally thought K2 was "sort of
like an herbal blend meant to mimic marijuana.

"It turns out it's a mixture of herbs, sprayed or laced with a
substance that is like THC but may not be chemically the same. We call
them synthetic cannabinoids."

The manmade or synthetic marijuana does not contain THC or
tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana,
according to the website for the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
www.drugabuse.gov.

Instead, K2 is an unidentified plant that is dried, crumbled and
sprayed with the chemical JWH-018, which Goetz said "has at least four
times the potency of THC." The chemical is named for Dr. John W.
Huffman, a Clemson University professor credited with creating it for
his research on the effects of cannabinoids on the human brain.

Some websites advertising JWH-018 and K2 incense say the product is
manufactured in Korea and China, but they do not provide details. One
website includes a waiver that requires a buyer's signature
acknowledging "exact ingredients lists of products are known only to
the product manufacturer."

Jay Spencer of the Canton/Stark County Crime Lab said the dried plant
onto which JWH-018 is sprayed hasn't been identified.

"K2 has been around for awhile, but it's newer to this area," Spencer
said, adding that his office's exposure to the drug has been "pretty
limited."

Canton police saw their first case involving K2 during the Pro
Football Hall of Fame Ribs Burnoff in August.

Michael B. Saeger, 21, of Louisville, was arrested as he left the
burnoff. He was smoking as he walked in the 100 block of Fawcett Court
NW when Canton Police Officer J. Hartzell saw him. Believing the stuff
Saeger had in a plastic bag was marijuana, Hartzell cited Saeger for
misdemeanor marijuana possession. But the crime lab determined it was
K2.

"It was definitely our office's first experience with this drug," said
Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Flex. The charge against Saeger was
dropped on Oct. 14. Flex warned Saeger that an officer could refile
the charge as inhaling harmful intoxicants, also a
misdemeanor.

THE LAW

The Ohio House of Representatives Bill 544 and Ohio Senate Bill 275
address synthetic cannabinoids called K2. Both bills were introduced
into the 128th General Assembly on June 2. The criminal penalties
would equal those for marijuana.

As of Oct. 19, the Senate bill has been assigned to the Judiciary
Criminal Justice committee. No hearings have been scheduled, according
to the legislature's website.

The House has been in recess, so its bill hasn't been assigned to any
committee, and it is unlikely to be heard by the end of the year,
according to the state legislator who presented it.

State Rep. Margaret Ruhl, a Republican from Mount Vernon, introduced
the bill into the House with another Republican, Rep. Dave Burke, of
Marysville. Ruhl said she learned about K2 when children in her
district began passing out at school after smoking K2. Her district
includes Knox and Morrow counties and parts of Richland and Ashland
counties.

Burke, who is a pharmacist, represents Logan and Union counties and
part of Marion County.

A Mount Vernon assistant prosecutor told Ruhl the local school system
was having a problem with "Spice," another name for K2. Students
smoking Spice before class suffered elevated heart rates, then passed
out, Ruhl said, adding that standard drug tests conducted on them at
the hospital also came back negative.

Two weeks later, four more K2-related illnesses occurred -- three in
Mount Vernon city schools and one at a rock music festival in the
Fredricktown area. Then, during her participation in a call-in radio
program, Ruhl received a call from a man who complained his employees
weren't showing up for work after smoking K2.

A few weeks after Ruhl introduced the bill, she was at a hospital
having blood drawn when her nurse brought up K2. "The nurse said,
‘You have to do something about this. My kids are smoking this
stuff, and I can't stop them. I've threatened them with everything: no
TV ...' Her kids are 15 and 17 years old," Ruhl said.

"It's incense. Anybody can buy this stuff."

Even in Stark County.

UNDETECTABLE

Saeger said he bought his K2 at a tattoo shop in Canton. He had been
smoking the stuff "quite a bit" for about a month before he was caught
and didn't realize how much more he suddenly was smoking.

"It's addicting. You'll have to wean yourself off of it. I definitely
do not recommend using it," Saeger said.

The only "side effect" he experienced was an extreme "high," he
said.

Saeger said he had been drawn to K2 by friends who assured him it
couldn't be detected in urine tests.

The chemical in K2, JWH-018 is detectable in a urine test -- but only
a specific test.

"(The sample) would have to be sent to a forensic laboratory with a
request for a K2 analysis," Long said.

Most employers seek drug tests from a regular commercial lab, which
looks for the more typical substances, such as amphetamines, cocaine,
marijuana, PCP and opiates.

Most of those labs don't test for and won't detect JWH-018, Long
said.

FOR SALE IN STARK

The Repository spotted packages of K2 in at least four Stark County
area stores. They were either locked inside a glass cabinet, hung on
the wall behind the front counter or distributed from a bucket of free
samples. One store had a sign saying only people 18 and older could
access the section where K2 could be found.

At a Perry Township store, small, clear plastic, lip gloss-sized
containers of K-2 cost $15 a gram. (A single gram equals .035 or less
than four-tenths of an ounce.)

In a Canton Township store, a 3-gram bag of K2 comes in five or six
"flavors" and sells for $30.

A Canton store sold 3-gram packages and small glass vials of K2 for
$20 apiece. "The manufacturer is trying to blow out his inventory
because this stuff's going to be illegal in Ohio come January," a
store clerk told one customer, who noted that the price had been
reduced from a prior visit.

A sign hung on the locked glass case covering it: "Not for human
consumption."

"You smoke it. It's really good," the clerk said. "But it's like
anything else. Every time you get something good, the government wants
to take it away." She explained the sign was the result of police
visits to the store.

MINORS WITH MONEY

Legally, customers under 18 can buy it, although some local merchants
insist they won't sell K2 to minors.

"We've chosen to make sure (K2 customers) are 18. But since it is an
incense and it is legal, I imagine anybody can buy it. Kids can buy
regular incense," said Mike Long, manager of Puff-n-Stuff novelties on
Cleveland Avenue SW.

He said that while K2 is advertised as an incense, he knows people are
smoking it.

"It's mood enhancing; it puts you in a better mood. With such a dismal
economy and everything else in Stark County that's so depressing, it's
kind of nice to have something uplifting," Long said.

He said he has not heard of anyone suffering any negative effects from
K2, adding, "It's quite a good seller. We've only been carrying it for
three months. It has become more and more popular."

Long advises customers "if they're going to smoke it, to make sure
they don't drive or operate machinery, that they do it in a relaxing,
at-home atmosphere to see how it affects them. I'd hate to hear about
anybody having physical harm done to them or someone else."

AVAILABLE ONLINE

The chemical JWH-018 is available online. An Internet connection and a
credit card can yield a shipment from one supplier for $45 for a
single gram, or in bulk (40 grams) for nearly $20 a gram. That website
advertises "discreet packaging" with free shipping for orders of more
than $90, and requires customers be at least 18 years old.

Another website requires buyers to sign a waiver when ordering. The
customer must assume "full liability for punitive damages" and
personal injuries, assure that he or she is not a law enforcement
officer or government agent and agree not to contact the website for
any other reason than to check on the status of a shipment more than
10 days late. That website also warns buyers not to inhale smoke,
snort powders or drink liquids.

"This is ridiculous because people are polluting themselves with these
‘toys.' If they would legalize the natural herb, they wouldn't
have these problems," said Dawn Dunlap, a Massillon native and
president of the Central Ohio NORML (National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws). "I personally have never done any of that
K2 stuff because it scares me. I don't know what's in it. Most people
who do use marijuana want it to be natural, to get away from chemicals."

Her organization, Ohio NORML and Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, held a
Medical Marijuana Compassion Act rally Sept. 16, and K2 wasn't
discussed "because to us, that's just junk. It's not healthy; it's not
good for you. It can't be. And they're marketing it, so what's in it?
They won't say.

"It's not even a proper plant. It's an incense. That would be like
smoking frankincense."

And it's not safe, according to WebMD.com.

"JWH-018 and its many cousins, for example, have a chemical structure
shared with known cancer-causing agents.

JWH-018 inventor Huffman, puts it bluntly. ‘It is like Russian
roulette to use these drugs. We don't know a darn thing about them for
real,' " the website said. Huffman could not be reached by The
Repository for comment.

Effects of K2

The effects are physical and psychological.

Science Daily's website -- www.sciencedaily.com -- says K2 impacts the
central nervous system, "causing severe, potentially life-threatening
hallucinations and, in some cases, seizures." Symptoms include rapid
heart rate, elevated blood pressure, vomiting, nausea, tremors and
seizures.

NEWS RELEASE

Tuscarawas County sheriff's deputies last week issued a news release
asking parents and school officials to be aware of the abuse of K2,
saying it is marketed in Korea and China as a plant growth stimulant
and "looks like a cross between tobacco and marijuana."

"This product however is said to create a highly stimulated
intoxicated feeling that is much the opposite of marijuana," the news
release said. "Some users have described the high as "a very intense
rush."

Assistant county prosecutor Michael Ernest said that smoking the
incense is "absolutely illegal" and anyone caught doing it can be
charged with abusing a harmful intoxicant, a first-degree misdemeanor
charge lodged against people for "huffing" paint. A second conviction
makes it a felony.

Deputies there say they also are beginning to see other types of
herbal synthetic drugs. They've purchased a white powder resembling
finely granulated table sugar and going by the street name of "speed
powder." Although it contains no narcotics, "the effects are said to
be a great intense short-lived high similar to cocaine followed by a
severe headache and nausea," the news release said.

Deputies asked that anyone aware of abuse of the products to call the
Tuscarawas County Drug Task Force at (330) 339-7713.