Irving ISD Safety & Security Department

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Posted:  May 3, 2010

Warning about K2
(a synthetic marijuana-like product)

K2 Continues to Challenge Parents and Schools

From National School Public Relations Association…

Although efforts have been made across the country to cut off the K2 (an herbal incense) supply, news accounts continue to indicate that the synthetic, marijuana-like product that is sold under a variety of names is still providing a challenge for parents and schools. A recent spate of incidents in Texas sent teens who smoked the "herbal incense" in Beaumont and Denton to hospitals. 

But legal or not, the dangers still exist. Poison centers nationwide have reported 352 cases of people sickened by the substance in 35 states, according to USA Today. Districts that haven’t done so will want to make sure this summer that drug education efforts and discipline codes reflect the continuing trend.

K2 a synthetic, marijuana-like product sold under a variety of names.

Officials in the Northside ISD last week sent parents a warning about “spice,” as it’s marketed in San Antonio. They said the scary part is not only that it’s legal and available in many local stores to anyone willing to pay about $30 a gram, but that its side effects are still unknown. 

The mixture of herbs and spices has recently become illegal in Kansas and Kentucky…bans are pending in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee…and Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey and New York are considering bills to outlaw it. In several Indiana towns, store owners have voluntarily started removing K2 from shelves.