 "Photo: Photo illustrations by Tommy Theis")
 "Photo: Photo illustrations by Tommy Theis")
“It gets you really high and it’s totally legal,” said Kyle Taylor as he took a long drag of a K2 cigarette.
Taylor, a sophomore in psychology, is one of thousands of Kansans who have discovered K2, a new drug that is rapidly gaining popularity across the state.
K2 is a legal marijuana substitute that has become popular in Lawrence and Kansas City over the last few months, and a number of K-State students have begun using the drug as well.
Natalie McAnnulla, employee at Sacred Journey, an herb shop on Massachusetts Street in Lawrence that sells the drug, said K2 is a mixture of blue lotus, baybean and a number of other herbs. However, K2 does not get its potent effects from these herbs, but from two synthesized cannabinoids that are added to the mixture.
Synthetic cannabinoids are very closely related to tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical in marijuana which causes users to get high. However, because the chemicals in K2 are slightly different than THC, they are not covered by existing drug laws. According to a Nov. 3 Kansas City Star article, the chemicals were first synthesized by an undergraduate student at Clemson University under the supervision of chemistry professor John W. Hoffman.
Users of the drug say K2’s effects are almost identical to those of marijuana, but there are some slight differences. K2 produces less of a mental high and a much more notable body high than smoking marijuana. The effects are in some ways more similar to the high from eating marijuana rather than smoking it.
“The way I see it is when you smoke marijuana, it’s more of a head high, and when you smoke K2 your whole body feels high ... You just kind of melt into the couch and lay there for a while,” said Taylor.
He said he felt in this way K2 was more potent than marijuana. Taylor said he felt it was possible to go to work or school high on marijuana , but didn’t think he would be able to do so after smoking K2.
Chris, a senior in business who asked that his last name not be revealed, said the effects were “very similar” to marijuana. However, he said he did not think the high from K2 lasted as long as the high from marijuana.
K2 was available in Manhattan for a very brief time: On The Wild Side in Aggieville sold it for about a week. Luke Johnson, an employee of On The Wildside, said they ordered K2 after receiving a number of requests that they begin carrying it. He said it was very popular while they carried it.
“We couldn’t even keep up with demand if we wanted to,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the store did not initially realize what K2 was used for and had believed it was simply an incense. He said the store decided to stop carrying K2 after reading several reviews online.
“Once we heard all the controversy and bad stuff about it we decided to just ax it,” Johnson said. “We don’t want to condone anything.”
Sacred Journey is the only store known to currently sell K2 in Kansas. The store sells four different types that range in price from $15 to $30, making the drug about half as expensive as marijuana of comparable strength.
McAnulla said she did not know of any other stores in Lawrence or Kansas City that sold K2. However, she had heard of a store in Kansas City that was considering selling it. McAnulla said Sacred Journey began selling the drug in June or July and it has become very popular since that time.
Taylor said he had to wait in a long line to buy the drug.
“We went there as soon as the herb shop opened and there was a line out the door, and they were all in line for K2. The person working the desk came out and was like ‘Who isn’t here for K2? We can ring you up at the other register.’ And no one even moved,” Taylor said.
K2 can also be ordered from numerous Web sites. Chris said friends had bought the drug for him from Sacred Journey, but recently he ordered it from K2fire.com. Taylor also said he knew people who order the drug online because it is cheaper when bought in bulk off the internet.
K2 is popular among college and high school students. However, it has been particularly popular among people who cannot smoke marijuana because of their job or legal problems. Chris said he first learned about the drug from a friend in the army who must take drug tests.
“I’m smoking it because I’m on probation,” Chris said with a laugh.
Taylor also cited legal reasons for smoking K2, because he is currently awaiting trial for marijuana-related charges and anticipates he will have to take drug tests in the near future.
A major concern many people have with K2 and other pot substitutes is the health effects of using the drug have not been studied.
“I would definitely smoke pot before I’d smoke K2 because I think K2 is synthetic, and we don’t know the effects,” Chris said.
Hoffman said in an interview with the Kansas City Star that his research indicates synthesized cannabinoids may potentially break down into carcinogens in the human body, and he felt it was important the effects be studied before people use it.
While K2 may currently be legal, it is unlikely it will remain that way for long. The drug recently caught the attention of police in Johnson County when they found out a number of people on parole and diversion were using the drug.
K2 has also caught the attention of Peggy Mast, a state representative for District 76. Several years ago, Mast sponsored a bill that outlawed Salvia Divinorum, an herb with short psychedelic effects that was also being sold in herb shops in Lawrence. In an interview with The Kansas City Star, Mast said she would be “happy to sponsor a bill to make this illegal.”
The state legislature resumes session in January. It is likely Mast will sponsor a bill to make K2 illegal as quickly as possible, which means smokers might only have a few more months to enjoy K2 before their legal high goes up in smoke.
34 comments
1. There is evidence to suggest that cannabis has been used by humans for about 5000 years. There have been decades of studies on that showing it is safer than alcohol, and yet it is still illegal (despite recent polls showing almost half of Americans support decriminalizing it for everyone, and 80% for medical use). Additionally, there has never been a documented case of anyone ever overdosing on cannabis. Alcohol and prescription medications on the other hand... So, to argue that K2 should be banned for this reason without concurrently proposing or supporting bills to ban alcohol or decriminalize cannabis is nothing short of hypocritical.
2. For anyone who believes having FDA approval makes something safe--Splenda/sucralose is not safe. There are plenty of anecdotal accounts online of people experiencing flu-like symptoms (headaches, chills, hot-flashes, upset stomach) and heart-palpitations (some severe enough to cause hospitalization) from ingesting that. The FDA approved that on about 120 studies (mostly animal--only about 14 on humans) which were all conducted by the manufacturer. Chemically, it is chlorinated sucrose. The manufacturer compares that to table salt, but it's not true. Structurally, it is more similar to pesticides like DDT. The manufacturer claims that it does not get absorbed in the body, but their own studies show that around 14% of it does. Also, the manufacturing process may result in impurities (like heavy metals) that can build up in the system, so--even though 14% may seem like a small amount once--what does that look like over time? And yet I don't see anyone in the KS legislature clamoring to ban that. And it's even available for TODDLERS to ingest!!!Our laws should be based on principle and facts, not just reactionary fear. Rob Olson (R-Olathe) thinks he's scoring easy political points with this one. Not in my book. I usually don't vote in local elections but will likely vote against him this fall for this one issue alone, regardless of who his opponent is or any other views they may hold.
With the state facing a budget shortfall, people losing their houses, and unemployment hovering around 10% nationally and locally, this is one of the very first things the KS state legislature chose to focus on at the start of their 2010 session? Yet another reason to vote against Rob Olson in the fall.