Synthetic cannabis, commonly called K2, has sent three students from school to the hospital this year because of its harmful effects, including seizures, fainting and vomiting. School Resource Officer Jamie Kwiecinski has handled many of these cases, from his time at Thomas Harrison Middle School last year, where there were multiple cases, to his short time at Harrisonburg High School this year.

“The thing with K2 is that you only need to smoke a little bit for it to affect you adversely. You don’t know the chemicals [that] are in it, so you really don’t know what you’re inhaling when you smoke it. Most of the incidents here appear to be what we call one hitters, so they’re just taking one or two quick puffs and then that’s what’s affecting them,” Kwiecinski said.

A student who smoked K2 in the bathroom of school last year was hospitalized because he passed out and threw up in class.

“I went to class and I remember coming up the stairs. It took me forever to get up the stairs. I couldn’t walk… Because it took me so long to get up the stairs, I was late to [my class],” a previously hospitalized student said, whose name is going to remain anonymous due to confidentiality. “That’s when I had the whole freak out moment where I just passed out, threw up. It’s not something you should do.”

Students who smoke out of these one hitters during school can immediately be affected by the drug, often causing them to pass out, which leads to their hospitalization.

“What the drug does is it affects part of your brain that stops you from breathing. Your body doesn’t tell itself to breathe. So a lot of times they’ll feed a tube down your throat, get an intubator, to have the hospital basically breathe for them just so they don’t die,” Kwiecinski said. “That’s happened in numerous cases throughout the city in the past year.”

Although K2 usage has brought dramatically negative events in the classroom, principal Cynthia Prieto is glad these students are able to get immediate help at school.

“Part of me is grateful [that is happens] in class because it means we have professionals here that can get you help. If you did this alone anywhere, there’s no control. Nobody can get you help, and that’s where it becomes even more dangerous,” Prieto said.

A main factor of K2 is its unpredictability. Because it is man-made and laced with many different drugs, a new batch has potential to have very different effects than other batches.

“[K2 is] similar to other drugs, but you just don’t know how you’re going to react. There are kids that smoke it for a very long time and then they get a new batch and don’t know where it’s from, who made it, [or] what’s in it, and then all of the sudden it affects them,” Kwiecinski said.

Although there have been less than 10 cases of students being caught with the drug at school this year, more students have been involved with the drug. Many students on probation turn to this drug because it is much less likely to appear on drug tests.

“It gets out of your system quickly. It’s also cheaper than any drug. You can get a pack of K2 for 10$ and that will last you longer than a gram of weed, which is 20$,” another anonymous student said. “One time, I did K2 at a very young age and had a very bad experience with it. I was basically not in reality; I was rolling on the floor for 10 minutes. Other times that I’ve done K2, it’s kind of like a high with a little bit of trip with it.”

Although the school is assisting those whose high is obvious, Prieto is concerned that other students who have a less noticeable high are not being attended to.

“[Students coming] in buzzed – that could be happening every day and unless you are so far that you are not in control, there’s nothing I can do about it. That’s troublesome, just for your health,” Prieto said. “The whole ‘it’s not that big of a deal, I’m only smoking pot’ is very dangerous when you start mixing that with driving and academics and everything else,” Prieto said. “[I want to focus] less about the consequences… My concern is more your health [and] the long term effects.”

To raise awareness about the topic, the administration plans to show a video that the broadcasting class composed concerning the K2 reactions to the entire school during second block.

“We’re going to come to classes, show this little five minute video and then we’re going to have circle style conversation about it. The focus is K2. The bigger concern is any kind of substance abuse or drug,” Prieto said.

There have also been two situations in which students have taken other substances, such as pills, and had a reaction that needed attention in school. Another four situations have occurred in which students have been identified as high and have had their parents called, but no serious medical attention was needed.

“I would like for the students that are making the right choices to use positive peer pressure and talk to the ones that are making the wrong choices,” Prieto said. “If you’ve matured enough to know this is not what you do in school and this is not productive to your schooling, would you kindly reach back to the littler ones or the less experienced ones who are struggling in a different way to avoid addictions, to avoid accidents, to avoid health issues. Just use your positive peer pressure.”

The video below is the one that will be showed to every second block class by administrators.