Bad Drugs

Another bad batch of synthetic marijuana hits Austin: 25 people treated since Monday

K2 is being blamed for more than two dozen emergency calls yesterday.

Wikimedia Commons

KVUE — Paramedics with Austin-Travis County EMS said 25 people have had adverse reactions to K2 since 12 pm on Monday.

It is usually labeled and sold in smoke stores as "potpourri," but people who smoke the substance refer to it as K2, "Spice" or "Kush." It is generally a mix of herbs and spices that are typically sprayed with lab-synthesized liquid chemicals to mimic the effect of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in the grows naturally in marijuana plants.

Paramedics say people who ingest it run a high risk of having an adverse reaction. "With K2 or Spice there's a variety of effects, side effects and dangerous components primarily due to unknown or preexisting medical conditions that the patient may or may not know they have," explained ATCEMS Paramedic Rick Rutledge.

Paramedics say they received calls about K2 over the weekend, but a rash of calls came in between 2 pm and 3 pm. "At one point — a couple of hours ago — we had like four or five ambulances on K2 calls at the same time, treating up to eight or nine different patients," said Rutledge. All of the patients were adults. Fifteen were transported to the hospital, two refused treatment and one person ran away.

All 25 cases happened in a six-block radius in downtown that included the area near the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH). This isn't the first time K2 has been a problem in downtown Austin. In May, more than 40 people had bad reactions over a few days. Police cracked down, confiscating the substance from people in the area.

Based on what happened six months ago, investigators fear there could be more cases coming because of the bad batch. They are working to find the source, but caution no matter where someone gets K2 it's not safe. Rutledge said the ingredients in the packs sold in stores are not regulated.

"They use chemicals and get no inspections by the FDA or USDA or anybody else who really cares what goes on that. It's not meant for ingestion," said Rutledge.

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To read the full story and to see video of the report, head to KVUE.

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Final Chapter

Bookstore closing final chapter 2 years after move from South Congress

southcongressbooks.com

The store survived the move for a while, but it wasn't sustainable.

While they say all good stories must come to an end, Austinites never want that to be true of independent local businesses—especially this time of year. After relocating to Kerbey Lane in 2022, South Congress Books announced it would be closing its doors for good in the coming weeks.

The store announced the closure in an Instagram post on Friday, December 6:

“On the heels of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday, we bring you We Surrender December,” the post reads. “After two years of valiantly trying to survive (if not thrive) in our new location, we’ve made the hard decision not to renew our lease.”

The post goes on to thank customers for their business over the years, but shares that keeping the shop open beyond the current year is not “sustainable or prudent.”

The store first opened its doors on South Congress thirteen years ago, back before that particular avenue became home to international brands like Nike and Hermes. Over the years, rising rent on the once-quirky street has squeezed out unique local businesses like Lucy in Disguise in favor of chain stores.

As such, it was no major surprise when, in 2022, the small bookstore announced it was moving north of downtown. Loyal customers hoped that neighbors like the original Kerbey Lane Cafe would bring in a steady stream of foot traffic, but that has apparently not been the case.

Commenters on the farewell post all grieved the news, sharing that the shop would be missed.

In a small bit of silver lining, the shop did announce that it will maintain a presence on Abebooks.com (as Tornbooks) and Ebay (as South Congress Books). Austinites can also browse a special selection of the shop; books at Uncommon Objects (1602 Fortview Road) in South Austin and Antiques of Oakmont (1803-A W. 35th Street), just around the corner from the current location.

In the meantime, the Kerbey Lane store is offering a ten percent discount through December 24 and then 20 percent off between December 26 and January 5, 2025.

books closings