BENTONVILLE — State Rep. Donna Hutchinson, R-Bella Vista, wants to ban K2 statewide.
K2 is a synthetic drug with effects similar to those of marijuana. It is sprayed on incense and other materials that are dried then smoked.
Hutchinson said she is most bothered by the fact K2 is not illegal and can be purchased over the counter.
The Benton County Quorum Court held a special session May 11 during which justices of the peace banned the drug’s possession and sale in the county. Rogers, Springdale, Alpena, Greenwood and Paris also have banned the sale and possession of K2.
K2 is banned in Kansas and Missouri.
“I just want to get it off the shelves as quickly as possible,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson sent a letter to Dr. Paul Halverston, director of the Arkansas Department of Health, earlier this week requesting he place K2 on the list of Schedule I controlled substances.
Schedule I drugs are those that have no medical benefit and are often abused. Schedule I drugs include heroin and cocaine, said Ed Barham, public information officer for the Arkansas Department of Health.
Hutchinson said placing K2 on the Schedule I drug list will prevent its use and sale immediately rather than having to wait until January’s legislative session to ban the drug statewide.
“I am just hoping to speed up the process,” Hutchinson said.
Barham said Halverston cannot place K2 on the list of Schedule I drugs without a legislative and public hearing first.
“We are researching the language and the law to find the most appropriate action we can take,” Barham said.
With no research or science about K2 available, department officials are unsure how to classify K2, Barham said.
Barham said the most alarming things about K2 is it has not been studied, so no one knows its effects on the body, and there is no way to test for the presence of the drug in the blood stream.
The Department of Health is working to develop a drug screen for K2 now, and the Legislature’s public health committee endorsed a proposal to study the drugs effects Thursday.
Barham said the department staff is studying K2’s effects on the immune system, the heart and the neurological system.
State Rep. John Woods, R-Springdale, co-sponsored the K2 study. Woods said he hopes to have state health officials testify about the effects of K2 before the House and Senate public health committees in June.
Hutchinson said she will propose banning K2 statewide during the 2011 legislative session to ensure it is banned, even if the Department of Health classifies the drug as a Schedule I substance.
Melanie Vergura sold K2 in her Rogers store, Hookah Java, before Benton County and Rogers banned the substance.
Vergura said her business has suffered since the ban.
The week before the ban went into effect, Vergura made $1,000. The week after the ban, the store made $400, Vergura said.
“They can ban the four or five substances they banned, but they are not ever, ever going to be able to keep up with it. There is always something else,” Vergura said.
Vergura said she does not understand Hutchinson’s reasoning behind wanting to have K2 placed on the list of Schedule I drugs.
“If they put K2 as a Schedule I and marijuana is a minimum penalty, then K2 is going to have a stiffer penalty than marijuana,” Vergura said.