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Community Corner

Has K2 Been on Your Radar?

After recent local tragedies and legislative pushes, Deputy Chief Bob North of Berkley Public Safety says synthetic marijuana has the city's attention and officials plan to support any measures to keep residents safe.

The sale of K2 —  — has drawn much attention throughout Michigan in recent weeks.

So far there have been no reported incidents occuring in Berkley or Huntington Woods, but authorities have agreed they will take appropriate actions to keep local youth safe. 

"We’ve had some briefings on it with our city attorney on local ordinance issues," Deputy Chief Bob North of said. "We know it’s dangerous and we certainly don’t want people using it because the effects are dramatically bad." 

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Many Michigan parents have expressed concern over the recent weeks about . The most recent was , who died of an overdose of the synthetic drug, Bloomfield Township police said.

That followed the shooting death of 17-year-old Jonathan Hoffman on May 18. The West Bloomfield teen was allegedly shot by his grandmother, Sandra Layne, who attorneys say because he may have use K2. , 19, of Farmington Hills is believed to have been high on synthetic marijuana in April when he attacked his family,.

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North said that although an incident in Berkley hasn't come up, officials knows it could happen if they aren't proactive about dealing with the matter appropriately.

“We know it’s out there, and it could pop up any time until there are constraints are put on it," he said. "The object is to make certain that access to it is denied for people’s safety. This all comes down to the safety of citizens.”

On Wednesday, Michigan state in the state of Michigan.

Darany’s proposal comes after many local communities have rallied to have Spice banned.

Facebook groups have been formed in , protests have been held in  and parents have teamed up in .

Other local officials are taking notice, too.

at a board meeting this week. Livingston County Sheriff about the dangers of the drug. And in an editorial on Troy Patch.

As far as legislation goes, North said officials will indeed people to stand in support of actions taken to tackle the issue. “We of course support anything that supports the safety of citizens,” he said.

Officials from the could not be reached for comment.

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