INDIANAPOLIS -
They are packaged to get your attention, or the attention of kids. Every one of these little foil packages is an incense treated with a dangerous compound.
"Paranoia, restlessness, agitations," says Kevin Shanks, a forensic toxicologist at AIT Labs in Indianapolis. "Those types of symptoms are all seen with these types of cannabinoid."
Since these synthetic drugs came on the market, business has boomed. And so have deaths.
Two years ago, Eyewitness News showed you, for the first time, college students smoking Spice and K2. At the time, the ingredient that made the students feel "high" was legal. Indiana has since banned the main ingredient, but the manufacturers have found a way around the law, by changing one molecule here or adding one there, without drastically altering the effect.
State lawmakers are tackling the issue again. "It is very dangerous," says Senator Jim Merritt. "I bet 3, 4 times a week, I get calls from people all around the state, and some from out of state."
"We have added compounds to the law expanding the list of banned compounds and giving state agencies the ability to ban others, to prevent the drug manufacturers from skirting the law further," says Merritt.
"This is probably the most important piece of legislation this session, because it is going to save lives."
