Synthetic Marijuana Still Sold in Worcester Despite City Ban

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

After a new petition was filed at the most recent City Council meeting, residents and City Councilors alike are becoming increasingly upset that synthetic marijuana is still being sold in Worcester, despite a city ban.

Synthetic marijuana – also known as spice or K2 – is currently being sold in Worcester convenience stores and head shops blatantly; some stores even advertise that they have the product.

“It’s a dangerous product; it’s flaunted and nothing is happening,” said City Councilor Konstantina Lukes. “I think people would lose respect for city government if we don’t know how to govern. If we don’t enforce our own laws then we don’t know how to govern.”

Many are upset because synthetic marijuana is typically confiscated but then quickly replaced in stores with new packaging and chemicals. Additionally, this drug is typically marketed toward youth.

Finding an Answer

When the topic of synthetic marijuana was brought up at the City Council meeting, many City Councilors were upset because although there is a city ban in place, one that has been in place since 2012, there seems to be a lack of enforcing the issue.

Councilors are willing to give the city and police the benefit of the doubt – there could after all be a loophole or challenge to enforcing these sales – but for the most part find it inexcusable that synthetic marijuana still has such a strong presence in the city.

City Manager Ed Augustus said that this is the first time that he is hearing of this issue in the city, but says that he will take the proper steps to get to the bottom of the issue.

“We will certainly speak with the police department and others to find out that we are getting the reports about the specific locations so that the officers can follow up,” said Augustus at the City Council meeting. “I’m not sure that people are proactively going around and looking for this stuff, but if there are reports and they are not being followed up, that’s something different.”

A Longtime Coming

There have been many efforts on a local, state, and national level to ban synthetic marijuana and other synthetic drugs from being sold, prompting many to ask how the drug is still able to be sold anywhere.

In addition to the city ban that was unanimously voted in favor of in 2012, there are also state and federal laws in place. In 2012, President Obama signed a bill banning synthetic drugs, including bath salts and synthetic marijuana, from the United States.

As a part of the 2015 fiscal year budget, Massachusetts added synthetic marijuana to the list of Class C substances, making the drug illegal. The amendment also aimed to create a better definition for the drug, as those who make synthetic marijuana frequently change the chemical composition to exploit a loophole in the language.

“This is something that has been going on for a long time,” said Bill Breault, chair of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety. “At this point, we are beyond upset that this is still happening. It seems like we are getting closer but this has taken far too long. This is a bad substance that needs to be removed from everywhere both city and nationwide.”