Legal marijuana substance showing up in Kansas

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Kansas law enforcement and some lawmakers are taking notice of a new legal substance that is designed to mimic the effects of marijuana.

The substance, called K2, works and smells like marijuana.

Kansas City-area police confirm that little bags of dried herbs are starting to pop up among teens and young adults.

State Rep. Peggy Mast is considering trying to outlaw the substance.

The risks of smoking the substance are unknown, and some European countries already have moved to ban it.

Johnson County police first discovered the drug was being used by ex-convicts on probation and now they're seeing it in high schools.

The Sacred Journey, a botanical store in Lawrence, sells K2, and it's available online. Other brands go by the names Spice, Genie and Zohai

"It is new on the scene here," said Johnson County Sheriff's Deputy Tom Erickson. "It's just been a few weeks since we found out it was being sold locally."

The active ingredients are just a few atoms away from the real thing, which means it isn't covered by laws banning marijuana.

The product is sold as being used for incense or as "plant food."

The Johnson County Crime Lab ran an analysis on K2, finding it tested negative for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. But it did have synthetic cannabinoids, chemical compounds created in a lab that act on the brain like THC.

Clemson University chemistry professor John W. Huffman said the risks of smoking synthetic cannabis haven't been studied.

His research suggests the compounds likely break down in the body into carcinogens.

Britain, Germany, Poland, France, South Korea and Russia have moved to ban the sale of synthetic cannabis within the past year.

Mast, an Emporia Republican, heard about K2 from The Kansas City Star.

"I would be very happy to sponsor a bill to make this illegal," Mast said.

Mast sponsored legislation a few years ago that outlawed the hallucinogenic plants jimson weed and salvia divinorum.

Johnson County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Farkes worries that teens may assume synthetic cannabis is safe because it's legal.

"I've even talked with parents who say, 'Oh, it's completely legal so I don't have a problem with my kid smoking it,"' Farkes said.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com