The Boston Herald recently reported that Oklahoma Drug Enforcement Officers were tipped off by Oklahoma educators about the possibility of a synthetic type of marijuana that is circulating among students. The new form of the drug may be able to avoid detection in substance abuse testing. This new type of marijuana is called "K2" and is comprised of a mixture of herbs and chemicals. The drug comes in the form of incense and can be smoked. Currently "K2" is sold legally. Educators began noticing odd behavior from students about a month ago, said Tina Barker, Director of the Oklahoma Outreach Sober School Program.
The FDA recently voted in favor of pushing a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride for approval. The new OxyContin formula is more difficult to crush or dissolve which will hopefully make it harder to be used as a drug of abuse . The FDA recommended that Purdue Pharma's application for a new, resin-coated formulation should replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996. Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug said, "Clearly the old formulation is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small," Flick concluded, "Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within 'day or weeks' of the product's release on the market."