'Fake' Marijuana K2 Gets Kids Perilously High

The “fake weed” sweeping the US isn’t marijuana, but it packs a stronger punch—and it’s legal. “K2” or “spice” is a mix of herbs and a chemical compound that’s sold as incense at—coincidentally, we’re sure—the same price as real pot. The scientist who discovered the compound tells LiveScience it’s 10 times as potent as THC, the active ingredient in your traditional weed. He thinks kids in Europe got the idea of “doping this incense.”

Whatever its genesis, K2 has been responsible for severe hallucinations in teenagers who get their hands on it. In addition to the “potent psychotropic drug,” a doctor says, the mixture is “likely contaminated with an unknown toxic substance that is causing many adverse effects.” Those include increased heart rate, blood pressure, and agitation, none of which are connected to marijuana. What’s going on? The scientist can’t say, as it was never tested on humans, but on mice who were then killed. “And mice are not humans.”