By Sally Huggins
The NCAA News
A new player in the street drug portfolio is drawing the attention of law enforcement officials, schools, medical professionals and athletics departments.
The new substance is most commonly referred to as K2 but has been found under names such as "Spice" and "Spice Gold." It mimics the effects of marijuana and its use is not easily identified.
The National Center for Drug Free Sport is concerned about the potential problems for athletes and their performance, especially if they assume K2 isn't dangerous because it is not an illegal substance.
Officials are trying to get the word out about the dangers of K2, illegal or not.
The substance initially was sold as an incense in coffee shops and gas station convenience stores but has now moved into herb stores (often known as head shops), according to Jeremy Morris, senior forensics scientist at the Johnson County (Kansas) Criminalistics Laboratory. While sold as incense, it is clearly intended for smoking, he said.
Speculation is that the new substance is either named after a form of marijuana sold under the name K2 or after the mountain known as K2, which is the second-highest summit in the world.
The ingredients listed on a package of K2 incense are all herbs. What isn't listed are compounds known as JWH-018 and JWH-073, and therein lies the danger. These compounds give K2 its mind-altering affect. JWH-018 and JWH-073 are synthetic cannabinoids that mimic the effects of marijuana but are so far not detected in routine urine testing. Users like the idea of getting the high of marijuana without being in danger of prosecution for drug use.
The compounds carry the initials of their developer, John W. Huffman, an organic chemist at Clemson who developed them during a research project in the 1990s relating to the effects of marijuana on areas of the brain. He published his findings in a scientific journal, including the formula for JWH-018, in 2005. That report eventually was discovered by an enterprising person or persons who found a new use for the compounds.
The state of Kansas became the first to outlaw K2 with legislation signed by the governor in early March. Neither K2 nor its ingredients are currently controlled substances in any other state or federal jurisdiction, so use of the drug is not illegal outside of the state of Kansas. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is monitoring JWH-018 and JWH-073 and has listed them as drugs and chemicals of concern. The Missouri legislature is expected to consider a bill in its 2010 session.
"The problem is the JWH compounds," Morris said. "They multiply the negative effects of marijuana three to five times. Symptoms include a racing heart, skyrocketing blood pressure and high anxiety. Users think their heart will explode. Clearly this is not something to fool around with."
Jim Hartman, a parent in southwest Missouri, agreed with that after the experience of his 14-year-old son, Tyler. Within less than a minute of smoking K2, Tyler experienced a seizure and became non-responsive, his father said.
"His eyes were red and big and he didn't seem to know where he was," Hartman said. "He was mostly unconscious for six hours. He would move and his eyes would open but he didn't know where he was. He was on oxygen, his heartbeat was real slow, then it was fast. At one point they talked about sending him to a hospital in Springfield (Missouri) to be put on a ventilator."
Tyler spent about six hours in the intensive care unit and nearly 18 hours in the hospital. The good news is he doesn't appear to have any lingering effects since the November 2009 incident, the senior Hartman said, but he wants to get the word out about K2. His son and his friends bought the package of incense at a liquor store in the small town of Fair Play, Missouri, where they attend school. None of the rest of the group suffered the effects that Tyler experienced but Jim Hartman wants people to know the dangers of the substance.
Both the Olympic Analytical Laboratory at UCLA and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City have samples of K2 where they are developing a plan to analyze the product. Anthony Butch, director of the UCLA lab, said that if it does not contain delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol 1 (THC), K2 will not be detected in the UCLA lab's current screening method. THC is the main psychoactive substance that produces the "high" found in marijuana.
Germany was one of the first places where products containing the JWH compounds were seen. Officials there encountered a large number of cases involving the version known as Spice in 2008 and moved quickly, making those products illegal under the German narcotics law in early 2009.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is monitoring K2, but its process for adding a substance to the schedule of controlled substances is a long one unless done on an emergency basis.
"They can make it a scheduled substance on an emergency basis until it can be done permanently if they find indications of a danger," Morris said. "We are well on our way to that with K2. There have been hospitalizations in Maine, Florida, Kansas and Missouri."
Because of what was seen in that country, state and federal officials in the U.S. can move faster, using the results seen in Germany, he said.
K2 was discovered in the Kansas City area in October 2009 and its use has snowballed in the past few months, Morris said. The lab obtained a sample to test at that time.
"If there is a suspicion that someone is under the influence of K2, the urine sample will have to go to an analytical lab and they need to be told to look for the JWH compounds. If they are looking for them, they can find them," Morris said.
K2 smells horrible when it is smoked. Because of its unpleasant taste, new varieties have appeared – K2 cherry and K2 grape – in an apparent attempt to make it more palatable.
A person under the influence of K2 will appear much as someone using marijuana with characteristics such as reddening of the eyes and lethargy, Morris said.
Because of the newness of the drug, medical and law enforcement officials have little documentation about the medical consequences of its use. Some Internet forums indicate constant use can be addictive.
The DEA's report about JWH-018 states that behavioral pharmacology studies show that it decreases overall activity, produces analgesia, decreases body temperature and produces catalepsy in mice. Scientists predict that it has a THC-like effect on humans, but there are no published excretion studies in humans. Its toxicity is not known because so few reports are available.
Neither the System to Retrieve Drug Evidence (STRIDE), a federal database for seized drugs analyzed by DEA forensic labs, nor the National Forensic Laboratory System, a system that collects drug analysis information from state and local forensic laboratories, contain reports of JWH-018 or JWH-073. Seizures of the product have been reported in Florida and Ohio.
Morris noted that while the compounds are not yet illegal outside of Kansas, if a person uses it and is impaired, it can be a violation of an "under the influence" law. If a university has a policy making it illegal to be under the influence of a substance, use of K2 could fall under that, he said.
Because of the health concerns, regardless of the legal aspects of K2, officials are advising schools to be aware of the dangers and to educate students that this is not a harmless drug. The relatively low cost and legal status make it a popular way to get high.
Morris believes parents and officials should be aware.
"It is clearly not a fad. It is not going away unless we make it go away," he said.
Reprinted with permission from Insight, the official publication of the National Center for Drug Free Sport. Sally Huggins is a contributor to that publication.
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