Does anyone know where to get some herbal incense in Loudoun County, like k2 and such

Try Jimbo's truck stop on RT, 50 across from main street car wash. I think that's considered Loudoun county. They have lots of choices.

i think senator Herring from loudoun county actually sponsored the bill to have that stuff outlawed.

Concerned_Parent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i think senator Herring from loudoun county
> actually sponsored the bill to have that stuff
> outlawed.

I found the link to those news articles...

State Senator Leads Effort To Ban 'Synthetic Pot'
By Erika Jacobson Moore
(Created: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 11:52 AM EST)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:skrp9ja3U6kJ:leesburgtoday.com/articles/2011/01/07/news/general_assembly/997potbill113010.txt+loudoun+county+k2&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

Over the past few months, law enforcement officers, Loudoun County Public Schools, and the community at large have become exposed to a new player in the war on drugs, one that is legal and easy for people of any age to purchase. Now, Sen. Mark Herring (D-33) is seeking legislation in the 2011 General Assembly that would ban the drug billed as synthetic marijuana, which carries the street name K2 or Spice.

"I put this forward because I felt it was important to help raise awareness of the spreading problem of synthetic marijuana, not only across Virginia, but here at home in Loudoun," Herring said Monday. "It is important that parents, teens and young adults are aware of the dangers that this drug poses...the more I researched, the more I was concerned about the dangers to young adults and teens that might be experimenting with this as a legal way to get high without understanding the harms."

Packaged as incense, and carrying the appearance of potpourri, K2's dangers lie not in the herbs or spices themselves, but in the chemicals that are sprayed on them, according to medical experts and law enforcement agencies. These herbs are sold at a variety of retail outlets, smoke shops and over the Internet, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"There's only one reason why the stores are stocking it on their shelves," Herring said. "They know who will purchase, and why."

The sprayed-on chemicals, which is a synthetic compound similar to the THC psychoactive ingredients in marijuana, have only been in existence for a couple of years, and therefore little is known about them and their potential harm.

"They have not been studied in humans because they were not intended for human consumption," Dr. Edward Puccio, director of Inova Loudoun Hospital's emergency department, said of the chemicals. "So we do not really know the effects. We've seen people who don't have a lot of experience with drugs who try this as an entry drug and the impact is fairly severe."

Puccio said the patients he has seen who have used K2, which have ranged from teens to adults, show symptoms of extreme agitation, are often paranoid, with dilated eyes. While there have been no reported deaths from using the substance as a drug, some patients show signs of cardiac and nervous system problems and there have been reports of seizures. Puccio also said parents should be aware of "odd behavior" in their children, including not making eye contact or not engaging in conversations.

"There are patients who are having hallucinations, so they could be looking around the room and not focusing," Puccio said.

Use of K2 is a fairly new phenomenon in Virginia, and Loudoun, but the escalated rate of cases involving the drug is causing concern amongst all involved in addressing drugs and their impacts on people. Herring noted that before June there were no calls to poison control about the drug, but since then there have been 70 reports to the agency.

"And that's at the point where someone feels concerned enough that they call the poison control center," Herring noted.

As for Loudoun, Leesburg Police Chief Joseph Price said the first cases were discovered in late September, and the town has seen several cases since then, including about half a dozen possession cases and two medical evaluations for potential overdoses. The problem, Price said, is that it is not criminal to possess the substance, leaving law enforcement with little ability to curb the use or sale.

"When we first learned about it, the school resource officers brought it to the attention of school personnel," Price said, noting that some of the cases originated in Loudoun schools. "[The schools] have put the word out throughout the school system and made it a banned substance within schools."

According to schools spokesman Wayde Byard, K2 now falls under Loudoun County Public Schools' standard drug policy, which prohibits students from "possessing, distributing, selling, using, or being under the influence of any drug...any chemical substance that affects the brain or nervous system, or any substance represented to be or believed to be a drug or chemical substance that affects the brain or nervous system..." In the listing of marijuana, the phrase "imitation or look-alike marijuana" is included as well.

But the lack of a law banning the substance still leads to problems for those seeking to curb its use or sale, which led Herring to submit the legislation. Known as SB745, the bill would amend the state code for drug possession, sale or distribution to include K2. If the bill were passed and signed into law, it would make knowing possession of the drug a Class 1 misdemeanor. Those who sell or distribute K2 at less than one-half ounce also would be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, while those people or stores who sell more than one-half ounce but less than five pounds would be guilty of a Class 5 felony. Anyone selling or distributing more than five pounds of synthetic pot would be guilty of a felony that carries a prison sentence between five and 30 years. Manufacturing the drug carries a penalty of five to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The bill also adds many forms of synthetic marijuana to the list of banned substances in Virginia.

"Right now about 10 states have made it criminal in one form or another and several others are beginning to take the same steps," Herring said. "It's time for Virginia to take similar action."

Since the drug only has been public and on the market for about a year, the Drug Enforcement Administration has not fully studied the drug. To remedy that, the agency announced Nov. 24 it was moving to emergency control of synthetic pot, using its authority to temporarily control the five chemicals being used to make K2.

"Except as authorized by law, this action will make possessing and selling these chemicals or the products that contain them illegal in the U.S. for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services further study whether these chemicals and products should be permanently controlled," the DEA said in announcing the temporary action.

"Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that 'fake pot' is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case," DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart stated Nov. 24. "Today's action will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products."

Herring called the DEA's action an "important step" but noted it does not remove the need for state legislation.

Beyond the ban, education is going to be key to combating use of the new drug, experts say. Education for both parents and children is needed.

"A lot of what I have had to do is educate kids...but educating parents needs to be a major focus as well. They need to know what to look for and what this drug is," Megan Fazenbaker, a substance abuse clinician with the county's Department of Mental Health, said. "One of the major issues I have seen is if [the user] has any kind of underlying mental health issue, that seems to go to the forefront and get much worse."

Fazenbaker added that one of the largest concerns is that since synthetic pot is not regulated "in any way" it is nearly impossible to know how much of the chemicals are in each packet, or even how much might trigger an overdose. But Puccio said since it is not intended for human consumption, any ingested amount would be considered an overdose.

"Any inhalation would be considered an overdose for me because it's not meant to be inhaled," he said. "Even if it is done with alcohol, which we see a lot, or regular marijuana, there's no amount considered safe."

and

K2, 'Designer Drugs' Pose Law Enforcement Challenge
By Alex Bahr

(Created: Tuesday, January 4, 2011 1:04 PM EST)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:74A5Qga-HWQJ:www.leesburg2day.com/articles/2011/02/08/news/public_safety/809drugforum010411.txt+loudoun+county+k2&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

During a meeting with county residents at Potomac Falls High School Monday night, Sen. Mark Herring (D-33) said legislation aimed at banning the possession, use and sale of "synthetic marijuana" products will be moving forward in the coming General Assembly session, but acknowledged that additional problems with the similar "designer drugs" likely will arise.

Sold under brand names such as K2 and Spice, the incense product public safety authorities call "synthetic marijuana" consists of chemical compounds designed to mimic the psychoactive effects of cannabis. Herring said retailers market the product knowing full well that many purchasing the substance do so with the intent of smoking it to obtain a currently legal high.

One challenge facing legislators in dealing with such products is the large number of chemicals that can be used to generate similar effects. Laws may be passed banning chemicals such as those currently found in K2 and Spice, but manufacturers can turn to others and have their products legally back on the market in a manner of months. Herring said he has seen several proposals for dealing with "designer drugs" like those found in K2 and Spice, but added that it will take cooperation between the state and local governments to fully address the problem.

Herring said the term "synthetic marijuana" is somewhat of a misnomer for substances like K2 and Spice. While designed to mimic the appearance of marijuana and the effects of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, the chemicals used in products like K2 and Spice have very different, often dangerous, side effects not normally seen with marijuana use, including increased heart rates that can lead to arrhythmia, difficulty breathing, increased agitation, auditory and visual hallucinations and paranoid delusions.

Michelle White, president of the Virginia Drug Court Program, said one of the greatest dangers of drugs like K2 and Spice is they were never intended for human consumption. Created in a lab to study the potential of synthetic marijuana, White said the effects "beyond maybe a few lab rats" are largely unknown, and that when compared with marijuana the effects are "drastically different."

Dr. Edward Puccio, director of emergency services for Inova Loudoun Hospital, and Lt. Mark Polan, of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, both said they have seen cases of individuals abusing K2 or Spice, but said keeping track of such incidents is difficult in the current environment. Tests for the substances are time consuming and expensive, rendering them ineffective in emergency treatment scenarios, Puccio said. While saying he and most of the emergency physicians he works with have had patients admit to using the substances, or entertained strong suspicions that patients have been using them, the lack of a quick testing procedure and fear of reprisal from patients means many who seek treatment for side-effects may not receive the care they need.

Puccio said another danger of Spice and K2 is the potential for the drugs to exacerbate preexisting mental health conditions in users, citing a case in which an adult user became suicidal after using the drugs. Combined with the fact that there is no practical way of determining the amount of chemicals present in the products, users may have an experience "totally different" than the traditional marijuana high they expect.

Polan said law enforcement officers throughout the county have noted an increased presence of the products beginning in late 2009. While officers have discovered the drugs during searches of people and vehicles, the inability to charge users with a crime makes tracking the substances difficult, though steps are being taken to better track incidents in which the products are found.

School Board Chairman John Stevens (Potomac) said school administrators and staff have an easier time of addressing problems related to the drug, as existing school policy states that students are "prohibited from possessing, distributing, selling, using, or being under the influence of any drug (including anabolic steroids), any chemical substance that affects the brain or nervous system, or any substance represented to be or believed to be a drug or chemical substance that affects the brain or nervous system." That language covers substances like Spice and K2, offering the school system greater leeway in dealing with the problem.

Noting that there have been only two incidents to date involving the products reported in the school system, Stevens said school administrators and counselors have noticed some trends in those using them. Students likely to use K2 or Spice tend to be more risk averse, he said, and feel safer using those products knowing that they are not banned or illegal substances. Stevens said those using K2 and Spice are more likely to abuse over-the-counter and prescription drugs than illegal drugs like marijuana, and are able to purchase the products directly or from other students who are reselling legally purchased material.

Stevens said one of the main goals of the school system in addressing the problems with K2 and Spice is education, for both parents and students. Information on the dangers of such products has been worked into standard substance abuse prevention education, he said, and additional information is available for parents who want to know more. One of the best ways parents can address the problem is simply by communicating with their children, he said, including asking about friends and associates, as well as what they are doing when away from the home.

No Herbal incense in VA anymore but you can still get herbal incense in maryland at super food mart in temple hills.



Super Food Mart
4705 Raleigh Rd Temple Hills, MD