Synthetic Drug Ban, Almost Law
March 7th, 2012 by flanewsLegal synthetic drugs, the ones sold in gas stations as incense or herbal blend, are about to be banned statewide. Less than a year after lawmakers voted to outlaw older synthetic drugs, new, slightly alerted products are back on the shelves. As Whitney Ray tells us, those products will soon be banned through a bill with unanimous support in the House and the Senate.
The warning is just a formality. If these products weren’t made for consumption no one would buy them. The packages read herbal blend or incense but the chemicals in these legal drugs are deadly.
A Florida teen learned the hard way. He smoked Jazz in January and was found drowned in a creek hours later.
Hillsborough County Colonel Jim Previtera sees it way to often, dangers drugs being marketed to teens at gas stations and head shops and he can’t do a thing about it.
“It’s frustrating because our obligation is to protect the public,” said Previtera.
Previtera watched Wednesday as the Senate passed a bill expanding the state’s ban on synthetic drugs; adding 92 chemical blends to the current list of five outlawed compounds.
“It’s hard to stay ahead of them because they are constantly remaking the monocular makeup of the actual drug itself,” said Evers.
Lawmakers say it’s all about saving lives. They have a warning for parents. They say talk to your kids about the synthetic drug, because they’ll still be legally sold in stores until the governor signs the bill.
Some law enforcement officers are taking it a step further. They’re calling on a boycott of all gas stations that don’t voluntarily remove the products from their shelves. Both the House and Senate have unanimously passed the bill, but it was amended in the senate earlier today, so now it goes back to the House for a final vote.
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