“K2 Is Not The Go-2”

By Ethan Munns: For The Clock

On October 7, 2015

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“K2 Is Not The Go-2”

Ethan Munns

For The Clock

It’s no secret that New Hampshire has taken a turn for the worse with drug problems over the past two years. Found at the center of a massive overlap from New York is the drug known as K2. Commonly known as “Fake weed,” “Yucatan fire,” “Skunk,” and “Moon Rocks,” it’s being treated as “Synthetic Marijuana.” Wall Street Journal said, “It’s cheap, powerful, and wildly unpredictable in quality. K2 is a blend of chemicals sprayed on cardboard or plant matter, intended to mimic the sedating effects of pot.”

K2 has also been deemed by many police officers as “weaponized marijuana,” that in essence makes the user go “totally crazy.” Officers can’t use a standard takedown due to the always-changing cycle of effects, and violent demeanor that overcomes the user. Legislation is already in play to make the sale of synthetic cannabinoids a crime with the same penalties for selling marijuana. Unfortunately selling or manufacturing the drug is only a state health-code violation, which limits officers from tackling the problem with enforcement.

Specific reactions can range from sedation to hallucinations, psychosis and seizures. The drug has been linked to a few high-profile incidents such as suicides due to massive overdoses. Joseph Moses, a spokesman for the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration said, “The chameleon-like compound changes faster than it can be banned.

The drug is primarily manufactured in labs in China, where chemists keep altering the makeup-only ever so slightly, but enough to evade banned substance import laws. What they’re doing is they are trying to play in the grey area [of] the Controlled Substances Act.”

A 5-ounce bag, about 15 joints, costs $3 to $5; marijuana could cost from $200 to $400 an ounce, depending on quality, and the same amount would be enough to roll dozens of joints, regular users of both drugs said.

K2 has also been seen in some cases to increase overall body temperature, so in the summertime people who have it in their system are more likely to drop because of overheating. Too many people are being exposed to a spike in K2’s usage, only time will tell the fate of this dangerous substance.