K2
People are asking me what “K2″ (not the mountain, the intoxicant) is, so here are some basics on it: “K2″ is one of several names, including “spice” and “plant food,” for what is essentially synthetic marijuana. It’s dried, ground-up herbs (similar-looking to oregano or potpourri) treated with chemicals that are essentially synthetic cannabinoids (molecularly very similar to tetrahydracannabinol, THC, the active, intoxicating compound found in marijuana), generally sold (online, in botanical stores or Bohemian boutiques, or person-to-person) in small plastic bags (roughly $10-$15 per gram in the Midwest) and smoked, just like marijuana. Because the synthetic compounds in K2 are new to the market and are not technically cannabinoids, it’s probably not a crime in most jurisdictions to possess/use K2, and most currently-available drug tests probably won’t detect its presence in the body, but that doesn’t mean there’s no cause for concern. In the short-term, K2 has an intoxicating effect similar to that of marijuana, so all the same concerns about intoxication generally, what someone might do while intoxicated, and what could happen to someone while intoxicated apply. In the long-term, there’s no real data yet on residual effects of K2 on the mind and body, but at the very least, I think it’s likely that compounds in K2 break down chemically into carcinogens inside the body. There are also concerns, as there are whenever the manufacture of a drug is unregulated, about purity — i.e. there’s generally no way to be sure what unsafe compounds, if any, may have been added, intentionally or inadvertently, to a specific “batch” of K2. The manufacturer(s) of the K2 on the market currently is/are largely unknown, but I think it’s likely that a significant percentage of it is being manufactured in places outside of the United States where the long-term health of American end-users is of little concern. Several European countries and South Korea have moved to ban K2 (and similar products) due to uncertainty about its safety, and I expect the same thing to happen here in the U.S., at least in some jurisdictions, as legislators and law enforcement become more aware of it.
Update #1: The body count in the Ohio serial rape/murder case is up to 10 now, and sadly, I won’t be surprised if it goes higher than that. See my post dated 11/1/09 for background on this developing story.
Update #2: An Iowa jury will begin deliberations on Thursday in the Michelle Kehoe case. Earlier in the week, a prosecution psychiatrist testified that, as I predicted, Kehoe was capable of distinguishing right from wrong when she allegedly murdered one of her two children and attempted to murder the other. A defense psychologist countered that Kehoe was unable to distinguish right from wrong due, at least in part, to…depression. Huh? See my posts dated 11/2/09 and 12/1/08 for background on this story.
Update #3: No charges will be filed against the ex-boyfriend of the Kansas City area teen who was the subject of an Amber Alert last week. She was initially believed to have been abducted by him and was in fact found with him, but it looks now like she was there willingly.
