The Bronx held its first K2 summit last week with lawmakers and top law enforcement and health officials from all around the state in attendance.

NYPD, DEA, FBI and other federal and local officials convened at Jacobi Medical Center to discuss the growing concern and ways in which the sale and usage of synthetic marijuana, more commonly known as K2, in New York can be tackled.

With nearly 700 emergency room visits in recent months, usage of K2 has been described as a new health epidemic. The forum’s aim was to come up with a coalition and a plan to curb K2 use.

The median age of users is 37 years old and 99 percent of people who go into the ER are 18 years and over, according to the data presented by Mary Travis Bassett, the New York City Health and Human Services commissioner. There has also been some 4,500 K2 related visits to hospital emergency rooms around the city. Bassett noted a major spike in ER visits occurred over the summer.

K2 or Spice mixes herbs, plants and spices which are then sprayed with synthetic chemicals just like marijuana.

Law enforcement officials also voiced concerns and complaints about the detection of and inability to prosecute perpetrators selling the synthetic opioids. K2, also known by drug counselors as the “loophole” drug, is often used with other substances making its detection difficult, explained Joshua Vinciguerra, the director of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. He added that local law enforcement agencies lacked the capabilities to test for K2 chemicals making it easy for users to beat a drug test.

The New York City Sheriff’s Department tasked to combat the widespread usage and sale of the drug is working to deter its sale. Emergency room visits has since dropped 28 percent. Sheriff Joe Fucito noted there’ll be a drop in storeowners selling for a bit, though it’s also dealing online sales of K2, which are unregulated. Vinciguerra worries dealers will raise the bar of distribution by making street deals. This can add a layer of red tape since possession of K2 is not a prosecutorial crime.

Currently, the Sheriff’s Department under the direction of the Department of Consumer Affairs can execute arrest warrants and enforce tax levies on the sale of tobacco. Since punishment of K2 use comes down to a ticket violation, a strategy being used by the Sheriff’s Department is to search for stores selling untaxed cigarettes, said Fucito. Often times, K2 is almost always discovered.

K2 is currently a violation of the state’s sanitary code, a minor offense that carries up to 15 days in jail and up to a $1500 fine.

Proposed solutions by elected, health and law enforcement officials during the meeting include but are not limited to:

• The amendment of the law to make the sale of K2 a crime/felony.
• Creation of an analog system that allows federal agencies to track the many different chemicals being sprayed on K2 leaves.
• The ability to alter the criminalization of possession of different chemicals being used in the creation of drugs.
• Legislation to criminalize all analogous chemicals put into the colorful K2 packets.
• Legislation to increase penalties for stores that continue to peddle synthetic marijuana.
• Support for law enforcement officials through new laws and funding for street testing kits.
• Eliminate the incentive for bodegas to sell K2 by revoking alcohol and tobacco license on the first strike.
• Change in packaging and properly labeling the K2 manufacturer’s name listed, making it a violation worthy of prosecution for bodegas.
• More resources such as wiretaps available for large narcotics investigation.

Recent investigations by the DEA, NYPD, Homeland Security Investigations and the Sheriff’s office yielded two major busts of five facilities holding 200 kilograms of chemicals and 270,000 packets of K2 worth an estimate $30 million.