K2 AND SPICE – IS THIS A NEW DRUG AND SHOULD EMPLOYERS BE WORRIED?

K2 AND SPICE – IS THIS A NEW DRUG AND SHOULD EMPLOYERS BE WORRIED?

Recently, a number of employers have started asking questions about K2, sometimes known as Spice, and the medical review officer (MRO) community has had some discussions on this subject. The following addresses some of what is known about this product and what employers may need to do relative to its use.

K2 is also known by a myriad of street names, including K2 Blonde, Spice, Spice Diamond, Spice Gold, Yucatan Fire, and so on. It is a synthetic cannabinoid compound that was first created in the mid-1990s in a laboratory by John W. Huffman of Clemson University, and was named after him – JWH-018. The formula for this compound was published and soon after that it was being used in China and Korea as a plant growth stimulant. Within the next few years, primarily in Europe, users started to spray this product on plant and spice material and tobacco, and smoke it. Currently, a number of European countries have banned this product.

Use of K2 has been around in the U.S. for several years, but since it was not illegal, and its prevelance is hard to measure, there have been only sporadic efforts to ban or limit its use in this country. Currently, K2, Spice, and other similar products are now sold on the internet and in “head shops” as incense and labeled not for human consuption. However, when smoked, these products produce similar highs as with marijuana use. It is important to remember that these products are synthetic and do not actually contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana) and are not derived from the hemp plant.
K2 works on the brain in the same way as THC. Both compounds bind to the CB1 receptors in the brain, which primarily affect the central nervous system. JWH-018 also binds to the peripheral brain (CB2) receptors, which are involved in the immune system. From a chemical perspective, K2 has an affinity for the cannabinoid brain receptor (CB1) that's about 10 times greater than THC – meaning that you can smoke a lot less K2 to get just as high.

Although the risks of using K2 are still unclear, there have been reports from emergency rooms of symptoms, such as fast heart beat, dangerously elevated blood pressure, pale skin and vomiting suggesting that K2 is affecting the cardiovascular system of users. It also is believed to affect the central nervous system, causing hallucinations and, in some cases, seizures. One major problem is that there are no quality controls in the production of this product or the amount that is actually applied to the plant material, leaving users playing “Russian roulette”.

The assumption is also made that impairment from use of this product is similar to that of marijuana. However, there is no data on the use of K2 in the transportation industry at this time. It is also important to know that current drug testing methodologies do not test for synthetic cannabinoids; some laboratories can test for this product at special request, but the tests are relatively expensive.

A number of states have either banned or criminalized possession and/or use of K2. States with bans include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, and Tennessee. A number of other states have legislation pending. Only one of the cannabinoids, HU-210, has been categorized as a Schedule I drug under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, although the Drug Enforcement Administration has indicated that it will review the other unscheduled synthetic cannabinoids in the near future.
So, what does all of this mean to employers in the transportation industry? First of all, employers should be concerned if they think any of their safety-sensitive workers may be using K2 or its derivatives. Like marijuana, these products may have some impairing affect on performance and employers have the right to be concerned about the impact on safety.

However, an employer is not going to be able to conduct DOT testing for K2 or Spice. As already mentioned, laboratories do not generally test for these compounds. Second, employers may want to put in their company drug policy their concerns, expectations, and consequences related to the use of these products. This will at least place their safety-sensitive employees on notice that the employer does not condone the use of these products. Unfortunately, possession of these items is rift with problems. An employer could state possession of K2 may results in termination, but how will the employer prove possession? A bag of plant/incense products may look like marijuana – the employee states it is K2 – how will the employer prove either? Laboratories can test a product to see if it is marijuana. They can also test for K2, but the employer must be willing to absorb the cost of such testing. The flip side of this is what will be the cost to the employer if the employee has an accident and causes a death?

Prevention is still the most effective method to address this problem. The perception that K2 is harmless (and legal in some states) may lull employees into thinking that its use will not impact on their health or on safety of the public. Education with accurate information will go a long way in changing employees’ behavior.

It is not likely that employers will face any significant number of problems involving K2 in the near future, but being ready to address these will at least put employers ahead of the proverbial eight ball. Employers, who use Consortia/Third Party Administrators (C/TPA) to operate their drug/alcohol testing programs, may want to discuss what their options are when and if they face this type of problem. The C/TPA can certainly provide guidance on which laboratories conduct tests for these compounds. Just a reminder – testing for K2 would be under the employer’s policy and not under DOT authority.