State officials look to ban synthetic marijuana 'K-2'

TAMPA - It's known as a legal high, but state officials says it's time to put an end to it.

Synthetic marijuana products like K2, Spice, Genie and others, are sold legally at gas stations and convenient stores throughout the bay area. Florida's Drug Control Director, Bruce Grant, is seeking to ban its sale statewide. "Why would we allow something that's intoxicating to be sold openly for those people that may want to use it and skirt the law."

The synthetic marijuana products look like crushed marijuana and are sprayed with a synthetic THC - the active ingredient in marijuana. Users say it creates a high similar to marijuana.

“The products appear to be more potent. There is no quality control." Cynthia Lewis Younger, with Poison Control, says young people think they're being slick - but they have no idea of the potential side effects. "There is nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, and even seizures have been reported."

Grant's job with the state is to reduce substance abuse in Florida. He questions why the product is legal and not regulated, knowing that it is "intoxicating." "We don't do that for alcohol and we certainly don't allow that for prescription drugs without a prescription from a doctor."

More than a dozen states have passed bills making the products illegal, but in Kansas where they banned K2, products starting hitting the shelves called "K3" and "C4" after slight changes were made to the chemical composition.

"As the use grows, the abuse will grow and with that we'll have all kinds of problems" explains Grant.

ABC Action News anchor Linda Hurtado looks at the controversy surrounding synthetic marijuana and reveals how the state plans on making it illegal, and how soon it could happen.