Council Members Discuss Possible K2 Ban in Troy

Troy City Council members discussed the K2 epidemic . The legal synthetic marijuana has been tied to two murders and one death in Oakland County in recent months.

“I’m embarrassed to say that several of the places of business I go into frequently have been selling K2 or Spice for years," Councilman Dave Henderson said during the meeting. “This stuff is detrimental to the health of our kids. We as a community need to do whatever it takes to eradicate it.”

Council members were supposed to vote on a resolution to send a proclamation regarding K2, drafted by new fill-in City Manager Michael Culpepper, to the state. But for some council members, it wasn't enough.

“It would be my desire that Attorney Bluhm not only look at the resolution we're sending to the state but also look at what we can do as a local municipality to put restrictions on K2 and bath salts," Councilman Wade Fleming said.

“I’m going to have to reach out to the law department to help us draft some language that maybe we could have back at the next meeting," Councilman Dane Slater said.

Troy Police Chief Gary Mayer said the Police Department is already planning to educate store owners about the dangers of K2 and Spice.

“We’re going to get volunteers, police officers to go into establishments" in hopes of getting them to agree not to sell K2 and Spice, Mayer said.

If Troy bans K2 sales, it will join , , and three Wayne County communities – Plymouth, Canton and Northville – which have all recently prohibited sales of K2.

At the state level, three bills are pending in the House and Senate, including House Bill 5709, which would require the Michigan Department of Community Health in cooperation with the State Police to analyze the content of the herbal mixtures and create a written report of its findings. State Bill 1082 would amend the Michigan Public Health Code to update and re-classify the list of substances commonly found in synthetic designer drugs, and Senate Bill 789 would allow the the Director of Community Health to work with the Board of Pharmacy to temporarily ban new substances that are determined to cause imminent danger to a person's health.

In Troy alone, police have recently responded to a report of a after smoking K2, arrested a 19-year-old and discovered a teen .

Spice is also reportedly behind the recent found uncooperative and speaking incoherently on his lawn and the , whose body along the shore of Wing Lake in Bloomfield Township.

Most notably, , 19, of Farmington Hills is believed to have been high on synthetic marijuana in April when he attacked his family, .