(WHAS11) -- You can buy it at most gas stations and smoke shops in southern Indiana but people are risking their lives to get a high off K2, also known as fake Marijuana.
But a city council member in New Albany wants it off the shelves. He says most of the council members plan to support a ban against the sale of K2 there.
K2 is illegal in Kentucky and New Albany City Council members say this is a huge problem; people simply drive over to buy it. New Albany hopes to be one of the first places in southern Indiana to ban it.
It has several names that include K2, Spice and Pulse. Users smoke it saying it gives them the same high as Marijuana.
K2 is an unregulated mixture of dried herbs, sprayed with a chemical compound. It’s marketed as incense and on most of the packaging it reads not for human consumption.
It’s legal in most of southern Indiana cities including New Albany. City council member Dan Coffey says he wants the sale of K2 banned and says it looks like it’s going to happen soon.
“A 100 percent that it will pass,” Coffey said.
Coffey says most of the other council members will also back the ban.
You can pretty much walk into any gas station or smoke shop in New Albany and buy it and WHAS11 went to several businesses that sell it but none of the owners wanted to talk about the possible ban.
K2 is sending people in our area to the ER everyday with elevated blood pressure, vomiting and seizures. Coffey hopes to follow Kentucky’s lead and make it harder to access K2 in New Albany.
“We are a border town we need to do something,” Coffey said. “We need to do it now.”
Dan Coffey says the ordinance to ban K2 will be introduced to the city council soon. After that it takes three readings to pass, but he says all of the council members he talked to will vote yes to the ban.
