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A bill making its way through the Missouri House of Representatives would make K2, also referred to as spice, a controlled substance in Missouri.
K2 is a nasty drug, according to Bob Welsh of the Missouri Safety Center. He said it can be found containing five or six chemical compounds to produce a high more powerful than cannabis.
"There have been at least three drivers arrested in Missouri in the last month who have reportedly been in possession of spice and who admitted using spice. The psychophysical impairment on their driving was profound," Welsh said. Still, when a toxicology test is ordered, the results come back negative for intoxicants such as marijuana or alcohol.
Sgt. Keith Glaser, Southeast Drug Task Force supervisor, said although he's not encountered the herb in Southeast Missouri, it may only be a short time before he does see it, because it is easily accessible on the web.
The bill's sponsor, Ward Franz, R-West Plains, said the growing use of K2 was first brought to his attention in November. Since then he's researched the product and has had numerous law enforcement officials and lawyers express their concern of its growth.
"It seems to be spreading like wildfire. So many of our children ... they feel it's something new and exciting they want to try and it's legal," Franz said.
Toxicology experts, the state highway patrol and numerous others have helped representatives craft the bill. Franz expects the bill to be assigned to a committee this week.
Welsh said, however, that legislators must be careful in drafting a bill so as to not allow any ways around the law if it were to pass.
"If you don't word the bill exactly right or correct in the terminology and the verbiage you might inadvertently leave a loophole," Welsh said. "We want this stuff locked out; no one should be able to purchase it, sell it or possess it."
Because spice or K2 is still legal and not labeled a controlled substance, no one that Welsh is aware of has tried to prosecute someone using the substance under Missouri law.
Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said if it isn't a controlled substance, a charge cannot be filed against someone admitting to using it. He could charge someone with driving while intoxicated by a drug, however, if an individual was caught using the substance and operating a motor vehicle.
"Under the DWI law, a person commits the DWI even if he is intoxicated on any legal drug," Swingle said. "We would need an expert witness familiar with the effects of drugs to educate the jury or the judge if it's a bench trial."
Although it's not illegal in the U.S., numerous military bases have banned its use by service men and women.
K2 was legal in the United Kingdom until December, when it became classified as a class B drug. The substance is also legal in Canada, although health experts are debating the subject.
If a bill passed in Missouri, it could take effect as early as Aug. 28.
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Ok, so you have to be a dumb*** to use the substance and drive. Current laws can prosecute you for doing that.
In all other aspects of government we hold hearings, commission studies, and talk the issue to death before doing something. So, why the knee-jerk reaction if it's an individual injesting something that makes him happy?
There are no mentions of possible negative effects of the drug. Do studies - I'm sure there are a lot of college students who will gladly volunteer to be test subjects. If the findings indicate that it poses health risks, then regulate or ban it. If not, then let the druggies have their fun. It might just become our answer to the meth problem.
I guess the drug task force hasn't looked too hard for this drug because it is sold at Hempies and it's not just college kids, there are many many many high school kids using it as well!
Do your job task force!
I'm against parsley, oh, and spinach.
man you task force guys are brilliant. it's been going on for over a year around here and you don't even know where it can be obtained. the citizens of southeast missouri have not seen this wild surge of "Spice" fueled rage. i have an idea. legalize pot! 14 states have already done it! wake up fools! you are lucky to be collecting a paycheck for such a clandestine purpose. you live in the dark ages!
nice goin postal. why don't you tell them who the premier pot dealer is in cape and where he lives?
At any "health food" store there is a wide variety of herbs and spices that are sold for their supposed medicinal purposes. They can't say, "will cure...," but it is strongly implied. These jars of snake oil often don't even have the ingrediants they claim, or at least the dose is off. Any one of these items can be harmful, we just don't know.
It makes no sense to ban one item without getting rid of all of them. The FDA has no control over regulating these substances, so they are all allowed to be sold and injested - buyer beware.
A more common sense law would be to subject everything to testing before they can be sold. At the least, the tests would have to prove that no harm would come from using the item, and that they contain what the label states. Yes, this would make a government agency bigger and more powerful, but it is necessary in the name of public safety.
Until that happens, there is little sense in picking and choosing what to go after.
Actually research in Europe has been going on for several years. The harmful effect of many of the chemical compounds found in "spice" is well documented. I grow weary of listening to the hippies crying out "If God made it, it must be natural and thus good for you." Yeah, God made rattlesnake venom too and I don't see too many people letting them crawl around the house. Spice, quite simply is a powerful psycho-active drug. It is easily adulterated (some versions of spice have been found to contain salvia divinorum; a powerful short acting hallucinogen) and may contain a variety of compounds; some harmful and others not. The US military is very concerned about spice/K-2 and has taken steps to react punitively toward military personnel who possess or use it. One chemical commonly found in spice (HU210) is already banned by the federal government.
Everything single 'bad' thing one can muster about pot is due TO prohibition so I really do not know where this is going :/
Yawn.... ban this and another product will replace it in 3-4 more months. The number of chemical combination that will get a human "high" is nigh infinite.
Besides if I wanted to take a "spice" that is a "powerful psycho-active drug" I could just walk into any area grocery store and buy a bottle of Nutmeg which is a significantly more powerful hallucinogen that any crappy bag of herbs sold by a local head shop.
Wow House Harkonnen isn't going to be happy about this.
I was hoping for a "the spice must flow" comment...and you are correct, House Harkonnen will not be pleased...neither will the Emperor.
As for "nutmeg" you've got to consume a massive amount of it to achieve any kind of "high".
The point is not to ban every substance known to man. The point is to make the environment as safe as possible. Part of that means speed limits, BAC limits, stop signs and banning certain substances proven to be hazardous.
Anyone who truly believes K-2 is "safe" has been smoking too much pot.
TheDude: "As for "nutmeg" you've got to consume a massive amount of it to achieve any kind of "high"."
By massive amounts I assume you mean around 2 tablespoons/1 oz of dried nutmeg or 2-3 whole cloves. Certainly more you would sprinkle in your eggnog or cider, but an average grocery store nutmeg container has a good 2-3 hallucinogenic level doses in it. Not to mention that a nutmeg "high" lasts for nearly 72 hours. So one small nutmeg container offers a week worth of highs.
So why not ban nutmeg too? If a company packages nutmeg ala K2 and Hempies and other head shops start selling it do we ban it then? How about if it becomes trendy with teenagers? Then are all us law abiding citizens denied our delicious eggnog to make our environment safer?