LOCAL POLICE WANT CONNECTICUT TO BAN K2, KNOWN AS 'FAKE WEED'

TORRINGTON - Local police have expressed mounting concern over a
concoction sold legally in local stores and known as "K2," "Spice" or
simply "fake weed."

According to Lt. Michael Emanuel of the Torrington Police Department,
teens are getting high off of this substance. There have been reports
of it causing hallucinations, delusions, vomiting, agitation,
elevated blood pressure and heart rates, as well as other dangerous effects.

K2 has been sold in shops since 2006 as incense or potpourri for
approximately $30 to $40 for a bag containing 3 grams.

While K2 is a legally sold substance, it reportedly offers a
marijuana-like high. Currently K2 is outlawed in 13 states and 17
countries, but remains legal in Connecticut. Connecticut legislators
will be asked to consider adding this incense or potpourri product to
the list of controlled substances, thus making it illegal to possess
and/or sell.

Lt. Emanuel reports that the danger is that K2 comes in many flavors
of herbal incense and was not made with the intention to smoke or
ingest. General use of most types of incense requires the incense to
be lit, creating a smoke that could be inhaled unintentionally.

Polk County, Florida, Sheriff Grady Judd recently commented on his
experience with K2: "Minors are smoking it and experiencing
frightening side effects, including high blood pressures, vomiting,
and hallucinations. One package may make you sick, the next may kill you."

Although there have not been significant reports of death resulting
directly from the substance, authorities worry of behavioral changes
that may occur while suffering from hallucinations. Lt. Emanuel
claims in the press release that the herbal blend that makes up K2 is
about 10 times more active than THC, which is the active ingredient
in marijuana. However K2 does not contain any THC, but Emanuel says,
"K2 appears to be treated with differing versions of synthetic
Cannabinoids. The effects of which are reportedly analogous to
marijuana but include additional dangers to users such as panic
attacks, heart palpitations, hallucinations, delusions, vomiting,
increased agitation, dilated pupils, and other symptoms.

Until any official law outlaws the sale of K2, the Torrington Police
Department are urging parents, students, and the public of the danger
in smoking this very damaging incense. Emanuel adds, "The fact that
K2 may be a mixture of herbal and spice plant products sprayed with a
potent psychotropic drug is extremely harmful and we want to warn the
public to be aware to these issues." Please contact Lt. Emanuel, or
the Torrington Police Department Narcotics Division for further
comment on K2/Spice.