OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — State drug enforcement officials and educators say there is now a synthetic form of marijuana that may be able to avoid drug test detection.
The drug, called K2, is sold legally as incense and can be smoked. It is a mixture of herbs and chemicals. The drug does not show up on marijuana drug screens, experts say.
K2’s use as a drug isn’t widespread in Oklahoma, said Dr. William Banner of the Oklahoma Poison Control Center. Oklahoma City police have no reported calls about the drug.
However, the Kansas legislature has passed measures to outlaw K2. And one Oklahoma school administrator is seeing signs that the drug is spreading to those struggling with addiction.
Tina Barker, director of the Oklahoma Outreach Sober School, a school for students recovering from addiction, said she’s been told about the drug by her students.
“Probably about a month and a half ago we started getting some weird behavior, where it felt very much like using,” Barker said. “So we were wondering what was going (on) and through the grapevine, through the kids, they had found this thing that was allowing them to not get caught in the drug tests.”
More widespread use could prompt the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control to go to the Legislature to get it banned, as happened with salvia divinorum in 2008, said Mark Woodward, narcotics bureau spokesman.
Salvia divinorum is a plant native to Mexico that can cause hallucinations when smoked.
People wanting to try K2 may find themselves receiving something different entirely.
“There are some novel new synthetic marijuana compounds out there,” Banner said. “The problem is your chances of buying them on the Internet are fairly limited.”
Though the drug does not show up on marijuana drug screens, that could be because what people are buying is not actually K2, Banner said.
“Those compounds are difficult to get a hold of,” he said. “They’re research compounds and no doubt there will be these kinds of things out there at some point, but it’s far easier to go on the Internet and sell you some caffeine and Ephedrine and tell you you’re going to have a party.”
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<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/quickread.gif " border=0> Oklahoma authorities warn of synthetic form of marijuana
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