K2 can cause marijuana-like symptoms.

DES MOINES – As of Wednesday, July 21, K2 is now an illegal substance in the state of Iowa. Side-stepping the legislative process, the Iowa Pharmacy Board voted to ban the sale of the substance, a synthetic version of marijuana.

K2 is marketed and sold as an incense; however it can cause a marijuana-like high for some users. Other possible side effects include anxiety, hallucination and seizures.

K2 was implicated in the death of an Indianola teen in June.

Officials in the state government had discussed asking legislators to ban the substance in January. In the absence of legislation, the Iowa Pharmacy Board passed an emergency measure reclassifying the substance as a Schedule I drug that cannot be legally sold or possessed.

Iowa joins Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky and Alabama as states who have issued either temporary or permanent bans on K2 sales. The state of Nebraska is also considering a K2 ban.

Tags: illegal drug, Indianola, Iowa Pharmacy Board, K2, marijuana

This entry was posted on July 25, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Featured, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.