A bill to ban K2 and other synthetic drugs is up for the Governor's signature

On Tuesday the Michigan Legislature gave their approval to bills that would ban K2, Spice, Bath Salts and other synthetic drugs.  These bills would also give the Department of Community Health the ability to declare health dangers when other synthetic drugs become available.  The bills are awaiting Governor Snyder's signature and will take effect immediately.

For those that are not familiar with it K2 is labeled as a herbal blend, marketed for home incense, but it is being used for much different purposes and could have potentially dangerous effects.

Although K2 is sometimes marketed as synthetic marijuana, the effects can be 10 times more intense than those from marijuana. The dried herbs come in 3-gram packages of various flavors, including "Blonde," "Pink," "Citron" and "Summit."

K2 samples test positive for synthetic cannabinoids JWH-018 and JWH-073, developed in the mid-1990s by Clemson University researchers conducting lab experiments on mice to test the compounds' effects on the brain.

Bath Salts are a synthetic powder that is sold  online and in drug paraphernalia stores under a variety of names, such as "Ivory Wave," "Purple Wave," "Red Dove," "Blue Silk," "Zoom," "Bloom," "Cloud Nine," "Ocean Snow," "Lunar Wave," "Vanilla Sky," "White Lightning," "Scarface," and "Hurricane Charlie." They contain various amphetamine-like chemicals, such as ethylenedioxypyrovalerone (MPDV), mephedrone and pyrovalerone. These drugs are typically administered orally, by inhalation, or by injection, with the worst outcomes apparently associated with snorting or intravenous administration. .These chemicals act in the brain like stimulant drugs (indeed they are sometimes touted as cocaine substitutes); thus they present a high abuse and addiction liability.

Doctors and clinicians at U.S. poison centers have indicated that ingesting or snorting "bath salts" containing synthetic stimulants can cause chest pains, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia, and delusions. 

Information in this article was taken from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and K2 drug facts which can be found at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/ and http://www.k2drugfacts.com/