Governor Sonny Perdue announced on Monday that he has signed a bill to outlaw the use and sales of synthetic marijuana (K2) in Georgia.
H.B. 1309 places the drug on Schedule I controlled substances list right along Heroin and above Cocaine, Ritalin and Opium which are all on Schedule II list. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Jay Neal (R-Lafayette) and Sen. Ed Harbison (D-Columbus).
K2, also knows as “fake weed, “Spice,” Genie,” or “Zohai,’ is a legally sold herb coated with a synthetic chemical that mimics similar “high” to marijuana's when smoked. The “Genie” is usually marketed as a spice or an incense, and is easily accessible online, in some convenience stores and spiritual and herbal shops. It can cost as much as $35 per ounce.
"Clemson University organic chemist John W. Huffman created the K2 compound in the mid-1990s to mimic the effects of cannabis on the brain." source (for more info about the origins of K2 click here)
Side effects of the drug include rapid heart rate, very high blood pressure, hallucinations, seizures, vomiting and paranoia. K2 attacks cardiovascular and central nervous systems. It is used mostly by young people who are hoping for a marijuana-like high. However, researches claim the drug does the exact opposite and causes sever agitation instead of the mellow effect of marijuana.
Atlanta has reported about 12 cases in recent months.” K2 is a potent drug that can be difficult to detect,” said Governor Perdue. “Adding it to our state’s banned substances list will protect Georgians’ safety and health.”
But the abuse of the substance is not a problem reserved to Georgia. This past February, a poison center in Missouri notified centers nationwide about K2 after they had an influx of patients with serious health problems resulting from the use of the drug.
"At first we had about a dozen cases, but then it really blossomed. By the first week of April, we had 40 cases," said director of the Missouri Poison Center in St. Louis and a toxicologist at Saint Louis University, Dr. Anthony Scalzo. "Missouri remains the epicenter, but it's spreading out." Scalzo said that nationwide, there have been 352 reported cases of K2 poisoning in 35 states.
According to USA Today, several cities and a dozen states have either banned the substance or are considering doing so. Kansas banned the drug March 10. Kentucky followed April 13. Alabama's ban takes effect July 1. Legislatures in 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.
The substance has been outlawed in Europe for a while now.
Comments
"Adding it to our state’s banned substances list will protect Georgians’ safety and health.”
Seems to me if they were interested in protecting the citizens, tobacco and alcohol should have been first out the door.
Hypocrites.
x
cannabanoid immitators have minor effects on drug addicts than their common drug of choice, which they will surely resort to. Illegalizing the products will only encourage the use of illegal drugs and instead of the government making money off of taxes, they will spend more money and time on criminals for possesion and distribution charges.
The people who suffer from the effects of k2 are already at risk for heart disease and heitening their already high blood pressure. These are not the direct effects of the drug. These are the affects of malnutrition.
if u ban k2 feel free to lock up, and pay for my existence. i am on probation. i am a physicist.
@ xexon
You got that right!
Agreed, alcohol seems to be by far more damaging, no one has ever died of K2 poisoning that I heard, and alcohol poisoning kills all the time, drinking and driving, etc. Tobacco is not exactly beneficial to us either... Most importantly, maybe kids wouldn't be looking for alternatives if marijuana was legal. Grrrr
Why does the man have to keep us down1
Power! We keep giving them power to run our lives. And we seriously have no options left. Dems want to run our industries, businesses, economy. Reps want to dictate to us what's moral and what's not. There is no alternative.
Stupid government, how long will they continue trying to control what people ingest. Cannabis is a much safer drug than any man made crap coming out of China , Cannabis should be decriminalized .
so now that its legal, and there is a demand... I'd be willing to bet a bag of that stuff will go for 100 bucks. hell, I'd pay it because I dont want to loose my job. "to protect your health, we are handing this over to the black market." All I want to do is be able to come home and smoke a bowl of cannabis rather than have a drink. And with Spice, I'm able to do that with out being a criminal. So with one stroke of a pen, if I get caught I will loose my home, family, job and life. And the tax payers (whom I will no longer be) will pick up the tab. WE NEED TO RISE UP AND GET THESE IGNORANT DINOSAUR POLITICIANS OUT!!!!!! GET OUT OF OUR LIVES AND QUIT RUINING THE LIVES OF FUTURE GENERATIONS!!!! GET OUT!!!!!
K2 is definitely more dangerous than MJ. And to clarify, MJ is not dangerous at all. Alcohol causes aggression, accident deaths, ruins families; MJ at worst makes one lazy (and that is more representative of the person than MJ). I've gone up in my career continuously while on MJ yet I can't now because of f'n ignorant people. MJ being illegal makes people look for alternatives such as K2 but nobody knows what chemicals are on that potpourri mix. All I know is I could do a hell of a lot of MJ and be fine but if you did too much of K2 you will feel like crap - I can easily see someone crashing their car on that stuff due to the rapid heartbeat and burning feelings. If you do try it remember just a tiny bit and you will feel it.
Even a DEA Judge back in the late 80's/early 90's (I think it was Francis Young) recommended MJ be downgraded and also said marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume.
continued . . .
marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating ten raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death.
Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.
Remember - the government's own DEA Judge wrote this.
In order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. A smoker would have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.
I can drink a 1/2 bottle of whiskey, or take 20 pills, or drink a gallon of water in 15 minutes and die. Maybe we should make red meat illegal too.
Pesticides and nitrates in foods are the biggest reasons of cancer in this country - so many eat deli meats everyday and potatoes(most pesticides).
No common sense is allo
Its not your business what others do with there lives
Its NOT your business!
So instead of making the safe alternative(MJ) legal, which would drop sales of K2 down to nothing, they just write more stupid laws turning more of our hard working tax paying citizens into "criminals"
it is all about control!
yeah, and alcohol messes with your whole body, like your liver and really messes up your life. this is another right we had gone! soon we wont even be able to mow our own lawns without getting a fine.
It is exactly like Marijuana. It has the same effects. The only ones having any other effect are like the officer who stole the pot from the evidence room and made brownies..."I think we're dead...time is passing really slow! " LOL! :)
There is NO FREEDOM in the country. Keep on rockin' in the free world!
I have been researching the K2 bans for months. The comments you see here from readers are the same comments on all other news articles all over the internet. American's are p1ssed off about government intervention into something that hasn't had proper studies performed, yet law makers rush to ban it.
funny that marijuana was made illegal out of fear and misinformation, only to find years later that its safe and has medical uses. alcohol and tobacco, which have proven to be highly dangerous are protected by law.
K2 could be taxed, controlled, and sold just as these other "adult" intoxicants, but it smells like political votes when you say retarded stuff like "Adding it to our state’s banned substances list will protect Georgians’ safety and health."
This type of manipulation is one of the true evils in our world.
This has nothing to do with the health of the people as they haven't even researched it yet. Plus, everyday the American people are buying foods laced with FDA approved toxins. Go figure.
Hmmmm, this site claims to have a blend that is legal in every state. www.k2-incense.com
I came across a website that warns of sites selling counterfeit k2 incense. I wonder what's in that?? The list is here. www.k2-incense.com Be safe people!
researchers claim the drug does the exact opposite and causes sever agitation instead of the mellow effect of marijuana.
Who? Where? Every time articles get to this information they quit using sources and quotes. I have yet to see any valid information supporting this. I have heard people say that K2 makes people go on killing sprees, but where is the information about this? no where to be found.
It is all BS. I will never understand why the people dont stand up to these idiots. Group together everyone and let your voices be heard. Alcohol and Tobacco do Kill, but they have the money to pay Washington off. Lets group together an let them hear our voices.
Just what we need here in Atlanta-another substance that makes the people act contrary and challenging. It's already next to impossible to go anywhere without having to endure vicious attitude and loud music in every parking lot. Good. Glad they banned it. Get jobs for some of these f***in parasites.
Isn't it funny how you can go to the doctor and easily get a prescription for an endless amount of drugs that can lead to organ damage/failure or even death, yet the authorities are having a hissy fit over some k2 herb fake weed stuff. Okay, not funny. Infuriating. They waste so much time and money chasing stuff like this down. They are only adding to the huge overcrowding problem we currently have in American prisons. K2 incense has survived every ban thus far and you can buy k2 smoke products from these guys, http://www.k2incenseblend.com that aren't restricted by ANY current ban, so really, what exactly are they trying to achieve here???
Another case of a politician using something he knows nothing about but will get him more votes !
Our penal system needs a major overhaul as it is and these petty drug laws aren't helping matters. The authorities will never be able to keep up with K2 incense and the like as it is ever-changing. Places like, http://www.k2incense.org have K2 herb products that aren't forbidden under any current bans. It is bonkers the money and effort they are putting into these bans when apparently people can still legally buy k2 smoke if they want to!
i myself smoked the k2 "fake weed" over the weekend. it has caused me to have headache's and dull pains in my chest i am very scared because i have just found out about k2 and smoked it and now i am seeing all this on the web. k2 looks like weed but it is not safe to smoke at all!!!!! please DO NOT smoke k2. can anyone tell me what i should do about this? If you are somebody who likes smoking weed stick with the real stuff its a whole lot better than smoking k2 and having all these problems after
It is absurd that marijuana is still pretty much illegal in this day and age. Now they are chasing down this K2 herbal incense stuff. Where will it end?? It won't. Do you know why? It's a never ending freaking cycle! There are constantly new formulations of K2 smoke coming out to get around these ridiculous bans which are trying to get around the ban on marijuana in the first place. Why do we have to be up in each other's business? This is supposed to be the land of the free and it is hardly that! If someone wants to buy k2 they will. After all the effort they have been putting into banning this stuff, http://www.k2incenseblend.com is still able to offer legal k2 incense products. I told you. Wasted money. Wasted efforts.
Lawmakers are in the process of closing any loopholes that currently exist with laws pertaining to some herbal incense products, but there efforts will prove to be fruitless in the end. The prohibition of marijuana has created this demand for legal marijuana alternatives. A rather prosperous niche that will be tapped into for as long as marijuana continues to be illegal. There are many places one may still buy k2 incense and according to the vendors, like http://www.buyk2.com the k2 herb products they sell are legal everywhere.
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