Washtenaw County officials ask businesses to immediately stop selling K2, other synthetic designer drugs
Synthetic marijuana also known as K2, Spice, incense and potpourri is an inexpensive and legal substance used to get high.
Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com
- Previous story: Synthetic marijuana: Washtenaw County officials consider options as efforts accelerate to ban it in Michigan
Washtenaw County officials have developed a “carrot-and-stick” approach to address the sale of synthetic marijuana after communities across Michigan and the state legislature have accelerated efforts to ban the substance.
“Other counties have taken action to try to get this out of their retail stores … so the question is, what will Washtenaw County do?” said Washtenaw County Administrator Verna McDaniel during the Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday night.
County public health officials are directing that merchants “immediately stop selling synthetic marijuana (e.g. K2, K6, Spice) and other synthetic drugs including bath salts (e.g. White Rush, Purple Rain, Vanilla Sky),” according to an announcement from the county’s administrative offices.
“We are hearing that due to public pressure and increased knowledge of the danger these products pose, many businesses have already stopped selling these products. We applaud these efforts,” McDaniel said in a written statement.
Synthetic marijuana - commonly referred to as incense, herbal and potpourri - is known by brand names, of which K2 and Spice are the most common.
Physical side effects from synthetic marijuana use include loss of control, seizures, hallucinations, vomiting and elevated heart rate and blood pressure.
There have been nine reported cases of K2/Spice use in Washtenaw County since January, according to national poison control center data.
“We hope that the public will assist us in frequenting the stores that have acted responsibly in addressing this public health concern and identify stores that have not taken the pledge,” McDaniel said.
An AnnArbor.com poll revealed 79 percent of responders said they thought the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners should ban synthetic marijuana immediately.
Under the plan, businesses will be identified that pledge to not sell K2 or other synthetic designer drugs by a decal that will be posted in their store.
Businesses that continue to sell synthetic marijuana will be subject to an official order from the health department to remove the product from their store.
Should a business ignore the order and “deliberately ignore the threat that these drugs pose,” the department will issue orders to enforce compliance, said Richard Fleece, Washtenaw County Public Health Officer.
Public health code gives the health officer the authority to issue a public health order, should the health of the community be at stake, Fleece said.
Violation of a public health order is a criminal offense, punishable by prison time and a fine.
“I’m prepared to issue public health orders if necessary, but we hope those are going to be few and far between,” Fleece said.
Details as to how businesses will get involved will be released Thursday, Fleece said.
“To be effective, it’s not going to be the enforcer that does this - it’s going to be the community pressure,” Fleece said.
Ypsilanti City Council discussed drafting an ordinance to ban the sale of synthetic marijuana within city limits during its regular meeting Tuesday night.
“I think we should be spending our money on education, when the state is going to take action anyway,” said Commissioner Alicia Ping.
Commissioner Yousef Rabhi said legalizing marijuana would eliminate the need for the potential dangers of synthetic cannabinoids.
Several Washtenaw County Commissioners questioned why the need for a public health directive for synthetic designer drugs, when people use marijuana and alcohol.
“It’s primarily in response to citizens of the county,” Fleece said.
“We can’t sit here and twiddle our thumbs while people are getting hurt or maimed,” said Commissioner Wesley Prater. “I think we need to address it now.”
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
Dennis
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 7:57 p.m.
So what I read in this article is that they are circumventing the legislative process in order to shame these people into not selling this product. What a joke. It's a shame there isn't something similar that gives the same effects without all the negatives...oh wait there is. Just legalize Marijuana already.
A2James
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 2:28 p.m.
Remember the hospitalizations over the "cinnamon challenge" a few months ago? I'm surprised that cinnamon is still on the market. I could visualize a few A2 parents, yelling outside of grocery stores, holding up signs denouncing the evils of cinnamon, and burning boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in protest.
Jack
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 9:26 p.m.
Cinnamon has a legitimate use. The "synthetic marijuana" has no real use other than to get high, apparently quite unpleasantly so.
arborani
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 1:40 p.m.
Ominous organ chords.
Ron Granger
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 1:17 p.m.
The Zombies are coming! Does anyone know what pattern the warning sirens emit for Zombies?
Enso
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 1:08 p.m.
9 cases in 6 months? Wow, sounds like a problem. How many car accidents have their been in 6 months? How many banks have been robbed? How many gun deaths have their been? How many drunks have beat on their wives and children in the last six months? How many politicians have done something not quite legal but not quite illegal in the last six months? This is puritanism at it's best. Remember Salvia Divinorum and the menace that plant supposedly was? No? Look it up, it was only last year and it too was 'driving kids crazy.' They were killing people, and jumping out of windows, and having orgies, and white women were dating black men! Oh wait, that was marijuana. The fact is people have always altered their consciousness. It is a fact of human nature that people will seek out ways to alter their reality. It is a natural part of the human experience. The best we can do is to be sure doing so is safe. And frankly, making one of the most harmless substances known to man illegal (marijuana) is only going to result in more attempts to get high legally. What you get is this synthetic crap made in some chemists lab. Plant a seed and smoke the flowers. Why is that illegal?
Daniel Tostige
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 11:45 p.m.
That is just Washtenaw county, and that is just "reported" cases.
maallen
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 1:05 p.m.
When will the officials of Washtenaw County pressure businesses to stop selling cigarettes? Why are they stopping with "synthetic marijuana"? Cigarettes is more dangerous and has caused more damage than this synthetic marijuana.
Mike
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 1 p.m.
but why? It's safe, just ask the people who smoke it...............
Polecat
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 12:55 p.m.
What a shocker to read all the hippies defending drug use.
Dennis
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 8:13 p.m.
The fact that you think of Marijuana smokers as "Hippies" shows just how out of touch with reality you are. I would venture a guess that at least one of your friends smokes weed from time to time and you just dont know about it.
Chase Ingersoll
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 12:45 p.m.
I don't understand why the threat of litigation by a parent of a minor has not been enough to scare the Commercial Insurance Carriers in Michigan to notify the retail establishments that they insure to get these products off of their shelves as they would on a recall of any other product. This is actually the self policing of the market via the tort industry and the insurance industry. Products that carry these liabilities or costs end up "costing" themselves out of the market. It just seems weird that litigation has not already begun and if so has not resulted in private action without need for regulation.
Paul Epstein
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 10:56 a.m.
Is it just me, or does it seem absurd to a stratospheric degree that marijuana is criminal and this stuff is "legal". Could Cleese, Palin, Idle, Chapman and Jones have found a better piece of idiocy than this at which to laugh 40,000 times?
treetowncartel
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 4:25 a.m.
Meanwhile, drunken residents of the county beat each other in bar fights and domestic assaults and swerve left of center into oncoming vehicles. Liberty, and the responsibility that comes with it, takes a back seat to today's paranoia. I can'twait to get to the hospital and get some surgery grade cocaine for my surgery and some morphine in post op. Can I smoke a cigarette on campus?
Brad
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 11:35 a.m.
Cocaine is only a schedule II drug, nowhere near as dangerous at the most evil of all weeds that the Devil has put here to tempt us - the schedule I drug (along with heroin, etc.) MARIJUANA.
Darrell
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 3:57 a.m.
Media sells fear, fears grabs our attention. We are flooded by this fear, we get to the point where we become so overwhelmed. We want the fear to stop, so we give our control to the authority and we feel better because we know, "they" will do what is best. I quote Forest Gump, "stupid is as stupid does" when people want to do stupid things they'll find a way to do it. Look at prohibition or Gun-control. Just because there are laws / ordinances in place to control them will not stop those thing from happening, and thinking that it will in my opinion is ignorant.
Homeland Conspiracy
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 3:42 a.m.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
squidlover
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 3:14 a.m.
Yousef Rabhi's statement that legalizing marijuana would eliminate the need for the potential dangers of synthetic cannabinoids is over simplified and erroneous. If marijuana were to be legalized, it would likely have age restrictions, much like alcohol does, thus minors could still be drawn to these products. Also, there will still be idiots out there looking for a different high, so will want to try this. It doesn't matter that these garbage products have a label on them stating "Not for human consumption"; as long as they are marketed as they currently are, people will use them. I'm all in favor of having these useless products removed.
JustInTime
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 2:59 a.m.
I'm too am fed up with this Spice and K2 crap being referenced as "synthetic marijuana". These substances have just as much in common with elephant dung and ping pong balls as they do marijuana... Spice and K2 and all these things people are smoking are giving marijuana a bad name. They aren't even CLOSE to being related to synthetic marijuana, they contain no cannabinoids, and most are derived from molecular structures similar to amphetamine. There is a name for synthetic marijuana; there is Marinol and there is Cannabinol. Spice and K2 are toxic, they share ZERO chemical relationships with Cannabis or THC. Marijuana can be a miraculous medicine for those that need it... it should never be stigmatized by being compared to K2 / Spice / etc... So kudos for the TITLE of THIS article noting "synthetic designer drugs", and anti-kudos for then immediately calling it "synthetic marijuana" in the first sentence of the first paragraph.
Enso
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 12:55 p.m.
Yes, thanks you! Thanks you very much! :D
Paul Epstein
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 10:59 a.m.
What a FABULOUS comment!! Thanks you for this!
David Briegel
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 2:28 a.m.
This has nothing to do with marijuana. These are chemicals and concerns should be addressed to the noble corporations and businesses which are involved in the manufacture and marketing of these substances. After all, they're just folks.
Angry Moderate
Thu, Jun 7, 2012 : 1:47 a.m.
Please stop calling it "synthetic marijuana." It is not any type of marijuana, synthetic or otherwise.