Tomball moves to ban dangerous K-2 herb

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A dangerous product is making people sick, and it's sold in stores all over the Houston area. Now one town is taking a big move to keep so called K-2 off the streets.

The powerful hallucinogenic herb is called K-2. We first told you about it back in 2004, but it's going by a different name now, and it's gaining in popularity. Now one city is pushing to ban it altogether.

It was a drastic move for Harris Agha. We found the convenience store manager pulling the product from his shelves today.

"I'm gonna draw the line and get this stuff off my shelves and that's it," said Agha.

In Tomball, the name is Kush, and we found it in Houston as K-2. Sold as incense, the package clearly states "not for consumption" and "for aromatherapy use only." But that's not what's happening.

"A lot of people are have been using it like marijuana, rolling it up and smoking it, and like marijuana, it has an hallucinogenic effect," said Lt. Mike Hill of the Northwest EMS in Tomball.

The product is mostly herbal; however the packaging says it contains synthetic extracts. That sends a red flag to EMS.

"That causes a lot of concern. It's unknown how it will react with different people and with different drugs," Lt. Hill said.

He has seen those negative effects first hand. So has the Tomball Police Department. Their chief is at the forefront of banning the substance from the city of Tomball.

"Basically the people who manufacture this product have found a way to go around existing laws and it's a way to get our children high by circumventing existing laws," said Tomball Police Chief Robert Hauck.

Chief Hauck says the product is growing in popularity among teens and young adults. We found it's not exactly a household name among neighbors we talked to.

"I saw it on TV the other day, and it just freaked me out," said Randall Fisher.

Right now the sale and use of K-2 is illegal in 12 states Including Kansas, Georgia and Alabama.

In the past year, there have been more than 500 cases of adverse reactions to K-2 across the country, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. There were only six incidents reported the year before.

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tomball, local, cynthia cisneros

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