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Carrollton City Council to discuss K2
By James Roth, jroth@acnpapers.com
“K2,” which has been banned in many cities around the Metroplex has recently made its way to Carrollton. The City Council will begin to discuss the issue of banning K2 in Carrollton at an upcoming meeting.
K2 is typically sold in head shops as incense, but it is said to mimic the effects of marijuana when smoked. Neighboring cities such as Allen, Plano and Frisco have banned K2 in their city limits and Carrollton is looking to do the same.
“We have been picking up bits and pieces of what K2 is and the effects it can have for a couple of months now,” said Mayor Ron Branson. “In July, I was in contact with the police and they said it was not in Carrollton yet. We did not want to advertise K2 because when you ban something, then kids are going to want to know what it is and possibly be more inclined to try it.”
“A few months ago we thought it would be too soon to talk about K2 because we did not want to give it unnecessary attention and grow faster,” Branson said. “Now we feel it is the right time to act and get this out of our city.”
Branson said that Mayor Pro Tem Matthew Marchant was the one who asked council to place K2 on the agenda after seeing it personally being sold in a head shop in Carrollton.
“Many cities around us have taken very hard stances against this, and I think you are going to see the city of Carrollton take an equally hard stance against this as well,” Branson said. “We are going to do everything we can to protect our youth. With school coming up, we want to make sure our youth does not have this in our schools.”
Carrollton resident and concerned mother of two, Debbie Petersen, recently contacted Branson about K2 and is concerned for her children being exposed to it when returning to school.
“I wanted my two teenage sons to be aware of the damage it could do to them. I want to help them see the dangers K2 can bring and keep them from being curious about it,” Petersen said. “Carrollton is a great city to live in and we are blessed with wonderful schools and kids and I hope we all take this opportunity to continue to protect our kids from things that could truly harm them.”
Branson said he has no doubt that K2 is already in multiple places in Carrollton; everyone just has not seen it yet.
“We have asked our staff to put together an ordinance. They are in the process of gathering information that represents what we want to do about K2,” Branson said. “We do not need this in our city.”
Branson said the council is on the fast track to banning K2 in the city. He said that council will most likely talk about K2 in the first week of September and feels that the ban will pass.
In addition to the city taking a strong stance against K2, the state is making strides to ban it as well. State Sen. Florence Shaprio, has spearheaded state efforts against the product, and plans to submit the bill during the next session in January 2011.
“Obviously the sale and manufacture are the major issues here, and the possession would be similar to what we do with marijuana,” Shapiro said. “But we haven’t looked at the penalties yet. We really are starting from square one with the issue and using other states and their success to craft this bill.”
Shapiro’s district, which covers much of Collin County, is home to some of the earliest efforts against K2 in the state.
Staff Reporter Conner Hammett contributed to this article
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