K2, also known as "Spice," "Mr. Smiley," "Genie" and "Zohai," is sold online, in convenience stores and in herbal or spiritual shops, and is usually marketed as incense. The herbs, which sell for as much as $35 an ounce, have emerged as a popular, legal alternative to marijuana among teenagers [image-nocss] and college students, said the report.
Clemson University chemist John Huffman, a research professor whose graduate students synthesized the substance in his lab 15 years ago, said the chemical may be harmful. "It shouldn't be out there," he told the newspaper.
Anthony Scalzo, director of the Missouri Poison Center in St. Louis, notified poison centers nationwide about K2 earlier this year after doctors in Missouri reported patients sickened from it.
"At first we had about a dozen cases, but then it really blossomed. By the first week of April, we had 40 cases," Scalzo told the paper. "Missouri remains the epicenter, but it's spreading out."
Poison Centers nationwide have reported more than 350 cases in at least 35 states since the initial report, he added. Patients often have a rapid heart rate, dangerously high blood pressure and sometimes hallucinations or paranoia.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) considers K2 a "drug of concern," spokesperson David Ausiello told USSA Today. "We're in the early stages of trying to figure out how potent it is."
Kansas banned the drug March 10. Kentucky followed April 13. Alabama's ban took effect July 1. Legislatures in Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee have passed bans that will take effect unless vetoed by their governors. Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey and New York are considering bills to outlaw the drug, said the report.
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