Detroit Free Press: Lawmakers, police and parents urge ban of synthetic marijuana after rash of violent crimes
A perfectly legal and easy-to-find drug known as K2 or synthetic marijuana has Michigan lawmakers, police, judges, parents and others pledging to ban its sale after the substance has been linked to violent crime and dangerous behavior, the Detroit Free Press reports Sunday.
The substance is made up of non-marijuana plant material and sprayed with chemicals that mimic THC, the active drug in marijuana. It’s commonly sold in gas stations or tobacco stores under names like Legal Devil, LOL, Tsunami or Scooby Snax and in flavors like grape, blueberry, mango or watermelon, the newspaper reports.
Synthetic marijuana has been linked to a series of recent violent crimes around Detroit, including the son who fatally beat his father with a baseball bat in West Bloomfield Township in April and the shooting death of a 17 year-old boy, also in West Bloomfield, by his grandmother.
Parents, doctors and users say smoking the substance causes extreme mood swings, nausea, dizziness, psychosis and possibly memory loss.
Previous efforts by state lawmakers and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to ban substances used to make K2 haven’t stopped the legal sale of the product, since manufacturers can easily change the chemicals and advertise that they are legal. But new legislation is pending in both the state Legislature and Congress.
For more, read the Free Press report.
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