1. <H1 itxtvisited="1">

    Fake pot that acts real stymies law enforcement</H1> <H2 itxtvisited="1">K2 made of obscure but easily accessible substance that isn't yet regulated</H2>
    <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD vAlign=bottom width="1%" itxtvisited="1"><A id=linkImgRelatedPhotos></A></TD><TD vAlign=bottom width="99%" itxtvisited="1">K2 contains herbs and spices sprayed with a synthetic compound chemically similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. State lawmakers in Missouri and Kansas have introduced bills which would create penalties for K2 possession similar to those for marijuana.

    View related photos
    <SCRIPT>var hasRelatedPhotos = 'false';if (hasRelatedPhotos=='true'){var vRPL = document.getElementById("viewRelatedPhotosLin k");if (vRPL!=undefined) vRPL.style.display = "";var vLRPG = document.getElementById("linkRelatedPhotos&qu ot;);var vLIRPG = document.getElementById("linkImgRelatedPhotos ");if (vLRPG) {if(vLIRPG) vLIRPG.href=vLRPG.href;}}</SCRIPT> </TD></TR><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD itxtvisited="1">Kelley McCall / AP
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    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - There may be nothing like the real thing, but some industrious marijuana users have seized on an obscure but easily accessible substance that mimics the drug's effects on the brain —creating a popular trade in legal dope that has stymied law enforcement authorities.

    The users are buying a product known as K2 — or "Spice," Genie" and "Zohai" — that is commonly sold in headshops as incense. Produced in China and Korea, the mixture of herbs and spices is sprayed with a synthetic compound chemically similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Users roll it up in joints or inhale it from pipes, just like the real thing.

    Though banned in most of Europe, K2's key ingredients are not regulated in the United States — a gap that has prompted lawmakers in Missouri and Kansas to consider new legislation.
    This isn't Jerry Garcia's marijuana," said state Rep. Jeff Roorda, a Democrat from the eastern Missouri town of Barnhart. "They've used chemicals to avoid creating something that's already illegal."
    Authorities in Johnson County, Kan., discovered ex-convicts on probation smoking K2, and said it is spreading to high school students.

    "This has become extremely popular," said Linda Weber, owner of The Vise smoke shop in the St. Louis suburb of St. Peters, who said she only sells to adults.

    She said she sells about 60 packages a week, with suppliers calling her weekly to pitch new brands. She said she's keeping an eye on what state lawmakers decide, though, because "I definitely don't want to be selling it if it comes out that it's harmful."

    K2 costs between $20 and $50 for three grams — similar to the street price of marijuana — but with the key advantages of bring legal and undetectable in drug tests.

    The key ingredients are believed to be the unintended result of scientific research on marijuana's effects.

    Dr. John Huffman, a Clemson University organic chemistry professor, was researching the effects of cannabinoids on the brain when his work resulted in a 1995 paper that contained the method and ingredients used to make the compound. That recipe found its way to marijuana users, who replicated Huffman's work and began spraying it onto dried flowers, herbs and tobacco.

    "People who use it are idiots," said Huffman, referring to K2 smokers.

    Proposed bill would make possession a felony
    A proposed bill in Missouri would make possession a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison — identical to punishments given to users of real marijuana. A similar bill in Kansas would make possession a misdemeanor punishable, with up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, also the same as marijuana convictions.

    The products are sold widely, but authorities in other states contacted by The Associated Press, including Pennsylvania, California and Michigan, said they haven't heard of their use as a drug.

    Police in Missouri and Kansas said they've become aware of K2 in recent weeks.

    In the rural southern Missouri city of West Plains, K2 is sold in a head shop just blocks from the high school. A botched attempt by teens to steal K2 from the shop brought the substance to the attention of police.

    "A 10-year-old child could walk into a head shop and buy it," said West Plains Detective Shawn Rhoads. "It's not a tobacco, it's not regulated by anything. It would be like sending my 10-year-old son into Wal-Mart to buy potpourri." <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="1%" align=right itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD itxtvisited="1"></TD></TR><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD itxtvisited="1">Kelley McCall / AP
    Conner Moore, 20, displays a three-gram pack of K2 at his home in Columbia, Mo. The herbs and spices in K2 are sprayed with a synthetic compound which is chemically similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
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    Although it is legal, the military has banned possession of K2. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has classified it a "drug or chemical of concern.

    No research of drugs toxicity
    Conner Moore, 20, who is taking a semester off from Moberly Community College, said he and his friends started smoking K2 after reading online news articles and postings about the substance. He compares the high to smoking medical marijuana. The high, he says, is shorter.

    "We just got on forums and looked it up and saw what other people said about it," he said. "Obviously if it comes out being bad, I'll obviously stop using it," Moore said. "There's really no sites out there that says what is in K2."

    There is no data on the drug's toxicity or how long it stays in the body. In mice, it can lead to a lower body temperature, partial paralysis and the temporary inability to feel pain, according to the DEA.

    One of the few studies of the compound's use was performed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, a Portugal-based agency of the European Union, in November 2009. The study found the amount of synthetic compound varies widely between brands, and that despite being widely available, it isn't clear how many Europeans use it.

    Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said K2 isn't much discussed within marijuana culture. "If government is genuinely concerned about controlling cannabis-related products, there is really only one thing that seems to have an effect: a tax stamp," St. Pierre said.

    Not sure if this a repost.
  2. "$20 and $50 for three grams"

    That better be some good shit to pay $50 for 3 grams
  3. Few extra bucks to be legal and pass drug tests?

    you can't be real man.

    stoners pay 30+ to get a kit to do that very thing.
  4. but it's not THC. You can buy "legal" herb all over the internet. Some may have different effects on a person, but they are all just manufactured substances.
  5. is it like the rest of the fake weed products like wizard's Smoke, or does it work? lol
  6. anohter effect of a pointless prohibition, ban a natural substance so it can be replaced by a man made chemical that is prob alot worse for you, and who knows what that shit is that its sprayed on cuz it looks like str8 schwag ass doo doo
  7.  
    Originally Posted by norcaljeff View Post

    is it like the rest of the fake weed products like wizard's Smoke, or does it work? lol

    exactly, all that shit does nothing...now I will rip salvia from time to time
  8. "There is no data on the drug's toxicity or how long it stays in the body. In mice, it can lead to a lower body temperature, partial paralysis and the temporary inability to feel pain, according to the DEA."

    Well, the chemist who invented it says you would have to be an idiot to smoke it, and it paralyzes mice, and there is no longterm/largescale data on it whatsoever right now. Imo sounds pretty risky/stupid to smoke this stuff, at least until there is a lot more research/data/analysis on it over a decent period of time and sample size. At least with weed, enough people have been smoking it for enough decades that we were able to determine pretty much 99.9% for sure that it's an esxtraordinarily low-risk drug in terms of health risks. This stuff on the other hand, we have no clue about. Stay away imo.
  9. "A 10-year-old child could walk into a head shop and buy it," said West Plains Detective Shawn Rhoads.

    pretty dumb comment me thinks. pretty sure most head shops across the country are 18 and up by laws or choice.
  10. I just read this article and was wondering the same thing.
  11. I thought you meant this shit. Use to smoke it in high school when there wasnt any around problem was you had to smoke the whole oz to get high lol

  12. I can get real weed for those prices though...
     
  13. Friends have smoked it, its not like the other shit post ITT. Bowl for one person, youd be fucked up just like chronic.
  14.  
    Originally Posted by swizbeatz View Post

    Friends have smoked it, its not like the other shit post ITT. Bowl for one person, youd be fucked up just like chronic.

  15. im imagining it tasting like ass and putting holes in our brains
  16.  
    Originally Posted by buchiYAYO View Post

    anohter effect of a pointless prohibition, ban a natural substance so it can be replaced by a man made chemical that is prob alot worse for you, and who knows what that shit is that its sprayed on cuz it looks like str8 schwag ass doo doo

    this is exactly what i was thinking. weed needs to be legalized-at the very least for medical users. the laws in Missouri are horrendous-just google it. i am scared to have a joint on me.
  17. The active ingredients in that stuff are synthetic cannabinoids like JWH-018,
    CP-55 and HU-210. Hundreds if not thousands of chemicals that can get people high are available on the internet. JWH-018 is active in extremely small amounts, around 2-3 milligrams and sells for less than $100 a gram.
  18. I tried some kinda Salvadore (this is not spelled right but searches have turned up nada and don't feel like trying harder) that I purchased in a head shop for about the prices mentioned. It was nothing like a pot high but was an interesting, one time thing.
  19. Chic Im dating smoked it all weekend. Brought some home and I tried some. It was ok, set off some different emotions than bud. Only lasted about a half hour (the buzz). It looked like potpourri, orange and red. She called it "spice".
     
  20. I have friends that have smoked "spice" here in Korea (real pot is 5 years in the FPYAP)...they got high...what's up with this being made in Korea...details??
  21.  
    Originally Posted by TheSilentBob View Post

    I tried some kinda Salvadore (this is not spelled right but searches have turned up nada and don't feel like trying harder) that I purchased in a head shop for about the prices mentioned. It was nothing like a pot high but was an interesting, one time thing.

    I think you mean Salvia Divinorum. My friend smoked this a few times and got all fucked up. i researched it and there are some really crazy experiences out there:
    http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=63601
  22. I used to be a huge stoner for like 3 years now im a once every few months type of smoker. when I smoke herb nowadays I get super super high from like one hit because I dont smoke it anymore. and I will be high for like 3 or 4 hours, or much longer if its a bong or bubbler.

    well a buddy of mine had this stuff and I took two big rips, felt a little high for 30 minutes and then felt nothing. if you are used to weed at all this is just a cheap imitation.
  23. does not look appetizing
  24. I don't get why they spray this shit on fkn skank potpourri - why not just sell it in liquid form that you'd use in a vaporizer or like those electric cigarettes
     

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