Boone County — Sales and use of synthetic marijuana products associated with at least one death and alarming physical reactions will be illegal in Boone County by Aug. 25.
Sold under various names, including K2 and spice, the artificial cannabinoids mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Monday, the Boone County Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance banning several variations of the chemical, becoming one of the first counties in Indiana to criminalize the substance. Nationwide, the synthetic marijuana has been banned in nine states, most recently in Missouri.
Sale or possession of the chemical will be a class B infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.
Prosecutor Todd Meyer had asked that the commissioners ban the dangerous substance because nearly a dozen juveniles on probation had tested positive for its use. Its side effects include vomiting, elevated heart rate and blood pressure, seizures and psychotic episodes.
The commissioners unanimously approved the ban, which takes effect immediately after publication of the ordinance in The Lebanon Reporter on Aug. 21 and in the Zionsville Times-Sentinel on Aug. 25.
“It smells awful,” County Attorney Bob Clutter said after sniffing a sample of K2 distributed by Boone County Probation Officer Kari Ragsdale.
Properly called JWH-018 and JWH-073, the synthetic cannabinoid was first developed in 1995 by John W. Huffman, an organic chemistry research professor at Clemson University, who was studying ways to use THC in the treatment of nausea, glaucoma and as appetite stimulants, according to his biography on Clemson’s website.
The synthetic drug is sprayed on a potpourri mix, which the user smokes to get high. It became popular in part because it’s legal, and because it was untraceable in urine tests before Redwood Toxicology Laboratory created a test that identifies synthetic marijuana.
Side effects of the drug frighten police and health officials.
One Zionsville student who admitted smoking K2 had a blood pressure of 248/134, Ragsdale said.
Ragsdale said 11 juveniles — six from Lebanon, three from Zionsville and two from Western Boone — have tested positive for K2.
“The results are a little skewed; we are not testing everyone,” Ragsdale said.
The test “is not readily available in toxicology labs,” she said. Each test is $38; Ragsdale said any parent who will pay that cost may ask that their child be tested for K2.
A blood pressure level of 140/90 is considered high, according to the National Institutes of Health. The first figure is the systolic pressure, which measures the force of blood in the arteries; the second figure is diastolic, a measure of blood pressure when the heart is at rest. “If left uncontrolled, high systolic pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, congestive heart failure, kidney damage, blindness or other conditions,” according to the NIH.
High diastolic pressure can also increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as kidney failure, the NIH said.
“We’re fully in support of this request,” Sheriff Ken Campbell said. Several other sheriffs have contacted him to learn more about the county’s prospective ban, he said.
The Indiana Sheriff’s Association will push for a state ban of the synthetic marijuana at next year’s General Assembly session, Campbell said.
Parents concerned about their children using the chemical have approached him at grocery stores to express their worries, Campbell said.
Other county prosecutors are also following Boone’s lead, Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Edens said Monday.
“Tippecanoe County is especially pursing this,” he said. “We’re going to be the splash, and the ripples will be in the counties around us.”
“I would like to give the benefit of the doubt to retailers,” Edens said. “Perhaps they don’t understand the lethal effects.
“But from now on, they will be on notice; if you sell spice, you will be held accountable.”
An Indianola, Iowa teenager who was under the influence of K2 shot himself to death after suffering a panic attack, the Sioux City Times reported on July 17.