K2 Use and Overdoses - News Story

brickstoner

After seeing daily cops and news cameras these past weeks, I guess you can say there's a little excitement in the area around Myrtle Broadway.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/K2-Mass-Overdoses-Brooklyn-Bedford-Stuyvesant-NYC-386499841.html

whynot_31

I know I should not be, but I am amazed that people will either :

A.  Use a substance that they have no idea of its effects, or

B.  Not care about its effects.

...I think I would at least wait to see what effect it would have on my friends. 

brickstoner

According to the news stories, the majority of the overdose victims (and I use the word victim with some hesitation) are homeless and mentally ill.

Since I walk this area daily, I can attest that the Skid-Row-like elements aren't young experimenters or transplants as some of the commentary suggests people think.

I think it's a cheap drug to forget your problems with if you're a street person.

whynot_31

Yes, it seems to be used by the very bottom of society.

...and each dose seems to vary in terms of ingredients and potency

Perhaps I would give some for free to someone I did not care about, then wait to see its effects before I used it?

brickstoner

And looks like the monthly raid took place. https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160713/bed-stuy/bed-stuy-bodega-raided-by-city-sheriffs-after-33-people-overdose-on-k2

brickstoner

Looks like it got the attention of the mayor and the Borough President. It might be a turning point because that intersection.  I wonder what will actually happen.

whynot_31

The cynic in me believes that this population will use something else even if the various versions of K2 were to be eliminated.

We are discussing a group of users that historically has shown it will resort to substances like paint or glue.

At some point, they are ingesting a poison not a drug.

brickstoner

whynot_31 said:

The cynic in me believes that this population will use something else even if the various versions of K2 were to be eliminated. We are discussing a group of users that historically has shown it will resort to substances like paint or glue. At some point, they are ingesting a poison not a drug.

The cynic in me says that, too.  

I think the police are still doing the right thing, though, by going after the issue, starting with the operators who sell that stuff.   The difference with glue, etc., is that this stuff IS some sort of synthetic cannabinoid, with zero quality control and of unknown other mixes in it.  It has an effect that's more speedy than household chemicals (even if it contains it, I'm sure).

The New York Times article today mentions that the City has acknowledged that the methodone clinics are hotspots around which the drug finds itself.  It's definitely not a coincidence.

Now with the police presence daily, the homeless encampments seem to have cleared. 

This is a commercial hotspot, with a mix of local businesses that have been there a while, and newer hipstery dive bars and fancy tacos (Skytown, Lupa Cantina, Little Skips, etc.).  The local businesses hopefully will benefit.

whynot_31

In the past, whenever people smoked a combination of substances that authorities could not figure out, they seemed to attribute it to PCP (aka Angel Dust).

Needless to say, very few people bothered to create actual PCP relative to the amount media and police attributed to it.

PCP and Synthetic Canaboids really need trademarks and a lawyer to protect them.

whynot_31