AMARILLO, TEXAS -- K-2 drug use is on the rise in Amarillo.
According to the Texas Prevention Impact Index, middle school students using the synthetic drug have seen the biggest increase since 2012. Although there is an increase in middle school use, high school students using K-2 decreased by 9.3% since January of this year. They also cite that almost 10% of high school students have used synthetic drugs in the past 30 days.
A University of Michigan study shows that synthetic marijuana is the most commonly used drug by 12th graders, behind traditional marijuana. A 2011 Monitoring the Future study says that although K-2 is often labeled as "natural" or "plants", samples only show some marijuana plant material, while the active ingredients are not plant-based.
Nausea, rapid heart rate, hallucinations and chest pains are just some of the symptoms associated with K-2 use.
Synthetic marijuana also has other street names other than K-2, such as spice, zombie, and beach bean.
The Potter and Randall Intervention and Drug Intervention program, or P.R.I.D.E., offers substance abuse intervention services to kids ages 10-17. Impact Futures also represents young kids looking to stay clean in the Panhandle.
For more on Impact Future's efforts, go to www.impactfutures.org.
