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Allen PD puts K2 in crosshairs
By Conner Hammett, chammett@acnpapers.com
Allen police urged city council members to pass a citywide ordinance banning the sale and possession of legal drugs K2 and salvia at a workshop Tuesday night, warning of the drugs’ potency and potential for dangerous side effects.
Police made their case with a half-hour presentation in which Officer Matt Johnson detailed the department’s inquiry into the effects and potential dangers of the drugs.
“We’re talking about some very, very potent products being potentially consumed by kids,” Johnson said. “Because it’s not a tobacco product, it’s not regulated. A 14-year-old can walk in a store and buy this stuff.”
“We’re really at the forefront of all this stuff,” said Johnson. “It’s very, very dangerous. Everyone knows it’s dangerous, but the way it fits into the laws and drug scheduling right now, it’s just kind of a loophole.”
Johnson also said that while the product is sometimes marketed as incense or potpourri, there’s little doubt what it’s sold for.
“You can go to Hobby Lobby and buy regular potpourri for 99 cents,” Johnson said. “This stuff, in three gram batches, is being sold for 50 dollars. There’s no point of this product being on the shelves other than to get kids high. Period.”
Mike Jabary is owner and operator of Jabary Mediterranean, a hookah bar and restaurant located on Greenville Avenue. It also happens to be the only establishment in Allen that sells K2.
While he supports a legal age limit to purchase K2, he said he does not want to see an outright ban since most of his K2-buying customers say they use it as a therapeutic incense.
“A lot of folks come here for their medical issues,” he said. “They told me they burn it, and without it, they can’t sleep.”
Jabary also said that while his store does not sell the product to minors, he is willing to team up with parents to make sure it doesn’t wind up in the wrong hands.
“We call to any parents to work with us if they find anything with their kids, to come to us, bring their kids,” Jabary said. “We know it’s a problem. The older folks buy for the younger folks and give it to them outside. It gets turned back on us, and people get fired up.”
The council meeting immediately following the workshop proved to be fertile ground for community discussion on the topic, with several citizens speaking for and against the proposed ban.
Andrea Samples, a single mother, said she would give her full support to an ordinance banning the substances.
“Our children face so many temptations with illegal drugs and alcohol,” she said. “As a mother it just devastates me to think that something like this is available to children right here in Allen.”
Dustin Bates, a youth pastor at the Harvest Church on Rivercrest Boulevard, similarly threw his support behind a ban.
“We've seen the draw and the temptation of (drug-related) pressures,” Bates said. “I appreciate the attention brought by the police and also by your work here in pursuing the ordinance.”
Not everyone was swayed by the proposition. Josh Alamo, a friend of Jabary’s, questioned the enforceability of such a ban.
“How are you going to prevent people from getting it on the internet?” Alamo said. “If a kid's going to go out and do something to get high, the kid's going to go out and get something to get high, whether it be huffing paint, butane, (or) eating glue.”
Alex Vester, a Jabary’s customer who says he does not consume K2 or tobacco products, said that an outright ban of these substances could inadvertently create a criminal market for them, suggesting an age limit for purchase of the products instead.
“We have no reports of death from K2,” he said. “Until that happens, I don’t see any reason why it needs to go straight from legal to banned, without taking that step in between to say ‘let’s see if we can deal with it on a regulated level.’”
For their part, council members were largely receptive to police’s suggestion for a city ordinance banning the substance.
“I’m typically not one to legislate behavior or free enterprise,” said councilmember Robin L. Sedlacek. “However, what we need to do to protect our kids I will support, and if that has to come in the form of an ordinance, then you've got my (approval).”
Mayor Stephen Terrell was also supportive, saying the drugs could pose a major risk to the public if a user operates a motor vehicle.
“At that point, you need to figure out some kind of controls or restraints on the product, whether it comes down to being a legal age of 21 or banned totally,” he said. “Those are some of the decisions that the council will make, and the state legislators will have to make at that time. Overall, something needs to be done to move forward with it.”
Chief of Police Bill Rushing said that while he had been in contact with several Texas senators working toward a state ban of the substances, it could take until 2011 for legislation to become effective if passed.
“Personally, I'd prefer not to wait until 2011,” said councilmember Jeff McGregor. “I think it needs to be addressed.”
Johnson’s presentation also featured videos found online of individuals under the influence of salvia, a powerful hallucinogen.
“He’s absolutely out of his mind, and that’s all drug-induced,” Johnson said. “He doesn’t know what’s going on, he can’t tell where he is.”
While salvia is not as popular as K2, police said its presence has been detected in Allen. The effects are said to be much stronger than those of the fake pot.
Johnson also warned that while K2 and salvia are both legal highs that are usually smoked, the effects of the two couldn’t be more different.
“Salvia is a naturally-occuring plant which contains Salvinorin A, which is a very, very powerful hallucigenic,” Johnson said. “Salvia is sometimes marketed as a legal cannabis substitute, and the effects are obviously in no way similar.”
Rushing made sure to emphasize urgency in pushing for a ban of the products.
“In 1997, when I first came here, children were dying of heroin,” he said. “On this here, we're ahead of the curve… If we have any children die because of this, I really think that we will have an outcry.”
Terrell said the next step will likely come in the form of an ordinance forum, advising interested parties to keep an eye on meeting schedules for further developments.
Sgt. Jon Felty of the Allen Police Department said the department will continue to gather facts as they await word from other departments looking into the matter.
“We’ve done the preliminary tonight. They may come back and ask for more detail,” he said. “There’s a whole host of people that work on it, so depending on what they present, what the information is, we may be tasked with doing more research and more investigation.”
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
garftree wrote on Jun 11, 2010 9:50 AM:
" i agree that this k2 should be banned, if no one knows the side effects then it should not be out there, and it is out just to get people high, i have tryed it my self and it does have same effects but i do not know what it can do to the body, their for i will not touch it again. if it turns out not to cause problems then tax it, if it does well people will still get ahold of it like marijuana as well, its all over these days. taking to much asprin can kill u or drinking to much can distroy your liver, smoke tabaco. all cause health problems so why is it they are illegal, and marijuana is not when it is just as bad for is smoking, drinking, and perhaps better for you. "
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