JB Van Hollen for Attorney General - I-Team: AG Calls for K2 Ban

By Aaron Diamant, TMJ4

The state's top cop calls "fake pot" a real problem and wants lawmakers to take action. Attorney J.B. Van Hollen's call comes after a big I-Team investigation found Wisconsin turning a blind eye to a "legal high."

The scariest part, more and more teenagers in our area are smoking this stuff. It's cheap, easy to find, and, doctors say, very dangerous.

Now, Van Hollen wants it gone -- a blend of dried leaves sprayed with a synthetic THC, the chemical in marijuana that gets you high. It's sold legally online and in head shops, most often, under the name K2.

"There may be parents who are watching their children using these substances thinking nothing of it, because they don't know that they're necessarily bad," Van Hollen said.

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin say the mind-altering chemicals in K2 are made in clandestine labs with no standards, or safeguards.

"It is very frightening." said MCW toxicologist Cecillia Hillard. "For one thing, you don't even know from batch to batch. You could have one batch and use it and have one effect, and the next day buy another package of this stuff and have three times as much."

Van Hollen says he's most concerned that police can't stop kids from smoking it.

"We need to make sure that we have the tools as law enforcement agencies to be able to eradicate, or at least minimize, the negative impact it has on our youth.," Van Hollen said. "Every study shows, that marijuana is an entry-level drug, and most of the people who are on other drugs have gotten there because they have used marijuana, and they want to step up to the next better thing. This K2 could be just like that."

Click here to read the story on the TMJ4 website.