Politics & Government

Mayor to Testify in Columbus on K2

Perciak to speak today before Ohio House

Mayor Tom Perciak said he will testify today before the Ohio House of Representatives on the dangers of chemicals found in products like .

Perciak said he would also speak about laws regarding .

The K2 issue was raised at a City Council meeting Monday night by Ward 3 Councilman Mark Roth, who called it "a travesty" that dangerous chemicals are available to children.

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"We need to draw attention to this and nip it,"Roth said.

Products like K2 are marketed as "herbal incense," but teens and adults roll the chemically treated vegetable matter into cigarettes and smoke them for what they call a "legal high."

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But unlike marijuana, it's not the vegetable matter that produces the high -- it's synthetic chemicals the leaves are treated with. In March, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration outlawed the five chemicals found in the so-called "fake pot" like K2.

K2 is now illegal to sell or buy.

But manufacturers quickly adjusted, using new chemicals and putting the product back on the market as K3. Police Chief Charles Goss said the producers "never missed a beat" in having new stock on store shelves. 

A similar problem exists with "fake cocaine" -- products marketed as  that users snort for a high like coke or methamphetamine.

The salts, which have nothing to do with traditional products used in bathwater, sell for about $20 a gram and contain a chemical called MDPV, which, when snorted, produces an intense high and hallucinations -- as well as tachycardia and hypertension.

Roth said products like K2 and K3 are "wreaking havoc with our youth."

Perciak said he intends to put pressure on state legislators regarding the issue.

"Our voice will be heard," he said.

 

 


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