4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2009
LAWRENCE
Drug being sold despite unknown health effects
BY BRANDON SAYERS bsayers@kansan.com
People from around the Kansas City area are coming to Lawrence to buy a legal drug called K2 that gets them as high as marijuana, according to area police.
Tom Erickson, a deputy sheriff for the Johnson County Sheriff's office, said the office was one of the first to become aware of the drug. They said they first heard about it through criminals released on parole or probation who were using the smokable herb to circumvent the random drug testing process. Erickson said police studied the herb's chemical makeup, which looks and burns like marijuana, and interviewed a number of people who have used the drug.
"They say it's the same type of high as standard street grade marijuha," Erickson said.
Erickson said each person the police spoke to said they thought K2 was at least as potent, if not more so, than marijuana — no one the police spoke to said K2 was any less potent.
ingredient in marijuana.
K2, a legal herb that users say mimics the high of marijuana, is available in Lawrence stores. Researchers are concerned about the drug because its toxicity and long-term effects are not known.
K2 is being sold at a downtown Lawrence shop, Sacred Journey, 1103 Massachusetts St. The product sells for about $10 per gram, although prices vary depending on the potency of the herb.
"It's definitely not a form of marijuana," Erickson said, "but it mimics the effects on the body."
Erickson said the police purchased K2 in Lawrence and brought it back to Johnson County to test the chemical breakup of the product. He said the tests suggested that K2 contained a synthetic version of THC, the active
A senior named John, who asked that his last name be withheld, said he was a regular marijuana smoker who decided to try K2 recently after hearing about it in the news.
John said he thought K2 produced a bodily effect similar to marijuana but only tasted "OK." He said there were a number of other reasons why he wouldn't make K2 his drug of choice.
"It's a relaxing feeling, but it doesn't have the head high of weed," John said. "It's nothing straight to the dome like weed."
John said he thought those who did not smoke marijuana regularly would find K2 to be more
However, because of the price and availability of marijuana in the area, John said he would stick with the illegal product.
K2:
Weston White/KANSAN
THC, AS DEFINED BY MERRIAM WERSTER:
"Great weed in this town is so readily available
MERKHAM WEBSTER: either of two physiologically active isomers from hemp plant resin; especially : one that is the chief intoxicant in marijuana
an herb that looks and burns like marijuana which tests suggest contains a synthetic version of THC
that I'd much rather just go to a dealer than some store," John said.
discovered the chemical while studying the effects of pharmaceuticals on the brain. The student named the compound after Huffman's initials, IJH-018.
The synthetic form of THC found in K2 was discovered during research at Clemson University in South Carolina. John Huffman, Clemson research professor of chemistry, said one of his students
Huffman said though he did not personally study the bodily effects of K2, a group of collaborators at Virginia Commonwealth University studied the effects the drug had on mice and noted its similarities to marijuana.
"They say it's the same type of high as standard street grade marijuana."
TOM ERICKSON Deputy sheriff
"It indicated that the compound was significantly more potent than THC,"
Huffman said he would not recommend anyone consume K2 or drugs similar to it.
At this point, police said they agreed with Huffman.
Huffman said.
"The problem with JWH-018 is that absolutely nothing is known regarding its toxicity or metabolites," Huffman said. "Therefore, it is potentially dangerous and should not be used."
"At least with marijana we know the short- and long-term health effects," Erickson said. "It's a terrible idea to ingest something that you don't understand."
ing K2, but didn't expect he would become a regular user of the legal herb.
A senior named Spencer, who asked that his last name be withheld, said he occasionally smoked marijana and tried K2 after friends recommended it to him.
"I wouldn't describe it as much as a high as a relaxed state," Spencer said. "I think I'll stick with the good old' fashioned marijuana when I want to get high."
Spencer said he didn't think the legality of marijuana factored into his decision much because he smoked marijuana safely and didn't expect to have any problems
Spencer said he enjoyed smok-
with the law in the future. Police said though K2 would show up on a drug test, it was still a legal substance so its presence wouldn't be punishable. However, Spencer said he wouldn't even smoke K2 if he was facing such a test.
"I'd rather just keep smoking weed and take a masking agent," Spencer said. "It's easy to pass a drug test."
- Edited by Sarah Kelly
CAMPUS Delayed veteran benefits now available to students
Student veteran benefits are now available for the Fall 2009 semester after a long period of backed-up requests at The Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA has made funds available for veteran students who still have not received their education benefits guaranteed by changes made in the GI Bill last year.
Julia O'Dell, Associate Director at KU Veterans Upward Bound, said the changes were supposed to go into effect in August 2009.
but have been backed up until now.
Because the changes are so different from the old GI Bill, O'Dell said the VA has had a lot of trouble getting all the policies in place so eligible students could be paid in a timely manner.
Those who qualify for the benefits can now get a $3,000
advance for education expenses including tuition and fees, a book stipend and, in some cases, a living stipend.
veterans to know which benefits they can use"
"It's a much more comprehensive system than the old Gl Bill," O'Dell said. "It is more individually tailored to a specific students' need, but the problem is that it's a little challenging for
She said there was a record use of this benefit and also a record number of veterans enrolled in post-secondary education right now because of the additional benefits.
"it's a wonderful opportunity for veterans," O'Dell said. "They
just need to be thoughtful about how they're using these benefits:
To receive GI Bill education benefits, eligible students can contact the VA Regional Office in Wichita at 1-800-827-1000 or visit the VA Web site at www.
va.gov.
Anna Archibald
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JOURNALISM
Northwestern students accused of paying sources for information
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO Prosecutors claimed in court Tuesday that Northwestern University journalism students paid two witnesses in order to make their case that an innocent man was wrongly convicted of murder.
The allegations came in filings during a Cook County criminal court hearing for Anthony McKinney, who is serving a life
sentence for the 1978 murder of a security guard.
Students have presented evidence, including interviews with witnesses, suggesting that several other men committed the crime. But prosecutors are questioning the credibility of their witnesses, including two who say the students and a Northwestern private investigator gave them money in exchange for interviews.
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"It is so filled with factual errors that if my students had done this kind of reporting and investigating, I would give them an 'F,'" Pross said.
and their professor David Protest, denied the allegations Tuesday, calling the state's court filing part of a "smear campaign."
Northwestern student Evan Benn, who is named in the state's subpoena, said it was him, not the investigator, who gave the cab driver the money, along with instructions that none of it was to be given to Drakes.
The brief hearing also had its share of fireworks, as Cook County Judge Diane Cannon berated Northwestern attorney Dick O'Brien for the tone and content of his last court filing.
One witness, Tony Drakes, said the Northwestern investigator gave a cab driver $60 to drive him a short distance and told the driver to give Drakes $40 in change. Drakes said he used the money to buy crack cocaine.
2.
Prosecutors said in their filing that several witnesses interviewed by the students recanted their statements when speaking to prosecutors, saying that theyd told the students what they wanted to hear so that they'd be paid.
Vict shoo
"It is dripping, dripping with sarcasm," Cannon said. "It is so irrelevant to the law. ... It is reprehensible."
"We never paid Tony Drakes for his statement, we would never pay any source," Benn said. He has said he paid $60 for the cab ride because the driver estimated it would cost about $50.
Michael Lane, who the students say was with Drakes, also told prosecutors that the students took him to dinner and gave him $50 to $100 in cash even though he didn't give them any information.
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