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THE NEW WAR ON DRUGS
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City looks at options for new rec center property By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
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JEREMY MORRIS, A FORENSIC SCIENTIST WITH THE JOHNSON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, who was perhaps one of the first scientists to test synthetic drugs being found in stores, is pictured. Kansas was the first state to ban chemicals found in synthetic drugs, but suppliers are finding ways to stay ahead of the laws.
Kansas, nation can’t always keep up with constantly changing synthetics By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com
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SALINA — In decades of long-distance drives through the Midwest, Gary Conti, a retired Oklahoma State University professor, has avoided his share of potential accidents. Like any driver with enough miles under his or her belt, Conti has had to swerve or stop to avoid a collision with a deer or another animal darting across the road. But it never had been a person. Not until about 10:45 p.m. Dec. 21, 2010. Conti and his wife, who were headed back to their Tulsa-area home, stopped for gasoline at a truck stop off Interstate 135 in Salina. He steered their Toyota Sienna back on the highway, heading south. Then a crouching figure flickered in Conti’s peripheral vision at the edge of the dark highway. “Out of nowhere, this young man popped up,” said Conti, who instinctively, and unsuccessfully, swerved away from the man. “It was like a magnet. He just kept running at us,” Conti said. “It was like a horror movie.” The man, 21-year-old Kan-
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A SAMPLING OF SYNTHETIC DRUGS that have been purchased in Salina stores is pictured. sas University student and Solomon native Elijah Taylor, hit the front bumper, then the window. The Conti and his wife weren’t injured, but Taylor died later at a Wichita hospital. After finding packets of synthetic drugs in Taylor’s possession, it didn’t take police long to formulate a theory about why the young man lunged at a moving vehicle on an interstate highway. Norton “He was out-of-his-mind high,” said Salina police Lt. Jim Norton, a member of the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force. That was nearly two years ago. And such bizarre and er-
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ratic behavior has been a frequent sight in Salina, particularly in emergency rooms and during encounters with police, as various forms of synthetic, and sometimes legal, drugs have taken hold in the city, Norton said. Salina isn’t alone, and during the past three years an explosion of synthetic drugs has spread across the country, capturing the media spotlight and attention of law enforcement, health officials and lawmakers. As local, state and federal law enforcement ramp up efforts to combat such substances, which they say are increasingly dangerous, they just might be embarking on the newest front in the drug war. The growing and unpredictable fight against Please see DRUGS, page 7A synthetic drugs can call Kansas, and the northeast portion of the state, one of the first battle- ! More on synthetic drugs. Page 6A grounds.
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‘K2’ On any given day in fall 2009, lines at the Lawrence herbal shop, Sacred Journey, 1103 Mass., snaked out the store and around the block. Young and old waited to buy the increasingly popular herbal mixtures that went by brand names such as “K2” or “Spice.” While the substances were marketed as herbal incense, few people were fooled; the product was a well-known and thenlegal alternative to marijuana, containing synthetic versions of cannabinoids, or the mind-altering substances found in marijuana. The product, which looks similar to actual marijuana, was cheaper and, for many, offered another key benefit: Use wouldn’t show up on employment or probation drug tests. But little was known about the effects of the substances, or even what the substances contained. That’s what initially concerned Johnson County law enforcement, who saw a dramatic spike in use around the Kansas Citymetro area. And it was all coming from Sacred Journey in Lawrence, said Jeremy Morris, a forensic scientist
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City officials confirmed they are looking at a new piece of property to house a northwest Lawrence sports complex, as negotiations drag on with private developers seeking to locate the facility at Sixth Street and the South Lawrence Trafficway. Mayor Bob Schumm said city officials have been studying the feasibility of an 87-acre site that is north and east of the intersection of Sixth Street and the SLT. Specifically, the property, owned by members of the Stultz family, is just north of where George Williams Way currently dead- Schumm ends. So far, city commissioners have been focusing their attention on a 50-acre site at the northwest corner of Sixth Street and the SLT. A group led by Lawrence developer Duane Schwada has proposed to donate the site, but thus far the city and Schwada haven’t been able to come up with an agreeable donation contract. Negotiations with a group led by Thomas Fritzel — which has proposed to finance and own the 181,000-square-foot recreation center and lease it back to the city on a 20-year lease-purchase agreement — also are not complete. Please see SITES, page 2A
NCAA: Self, KU athletics can’t market new facility By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
If the city’s proposed $24 million recreation center in northwest Lawrence becomes a huge draw for regional and national youth sporting tournaments, it won’t be because Bill Self or Kansas University officials put their marketing power behind it. Officials at KU confirmed that NCAA rules will not allow the athletics department to become involved in promoting the proposed center. “We can’t be involved with that at all,” Jim Marchiony, an associate athletic director for KU, said of promoting the city facility. That is different from what city officials once thought. “I know when we were first thinking about this project, I thought Bill Self could make a call and land us ‘X’ number of tournaments,” said City
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A handful of Lawrence residents share their stories about spending the summer in foreign lands: Kenya, India, Slovakia and Turkey. Page 1C
Please see NCAA, page 2A
Vol.154/No.246 58 pages