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"The Bronx is becoming the K2 capital of New York City," Klein said in a statement. "At least ten patients a week are rushed through the emergency room at Jacobi Hospital displaying frightening, erratic behavior associated with K2 use. I'm introducing legislation to keep ahead of the chemists' curve and criminalize all analogous chemicals put into these colorful K2 packets."It's probably a stretch to argue that the Bronx, which Klein represents in the state legislature, is the epicenter of the epidemic. A July report by the New York Times Magazine showed that the upstate New York city of Syracuse recently experienced 19 overdoses in one day. Similarly, my recent story for VICE showed that in Central Brooklyn, where the drug can be obtained for as little as $1, homeless people abuse it to the point that some EMTs are shuttling the same abusers back and forth between city hospitals and shelters all day long.But the press conference suggests that the powers that be are making the issue a priority. Klein's proposal emerged just a week after NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton started referring to the chemicals as "weaponized weed" and not long after City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for busts at Harlem bodegas. While actual marijuana is not present in these products, Bratton's language—which has also included dire warnings about how the superhuman strength of K2 users means normal cops' normal takedown tactics might not be effective—suggests the NYPD is trying to tackle this public health crisis.Read: How Synthetic Weed Is Ravaging Brooklyn's Homeless Population
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