The Santa Maria City Council was scheduled to vote on an ordinance to ban the possession, distribution, and sale of synthetic drugs within city limits on May19. The results of the vote weren’t available as of press time.
The ordinance includes provisions to suspend or revoke the business licenses of businesses involved in the selling (distribution) of synthetic drugs.
Penalties for possession, sale, or distribution of synthetics—defined as misdemeanors in the ordinance—are punishable by up to six months in county jail or $1,000.
The ordinance specifically targets the stimulant cathinone, commonly known as bath salts; the naturally-occurring psychoactive plant Salvia Divinorum; and synthetic cannabinoid analogues (called ‘spice’). It also bans derivatives, alterations, “substantially similar chemical compounds,” and a slew of specific chemical varieties. Also prohibited are several well-known trade names of spice, including Voodoo, Pulse, Serenity, Fake Weed, and Black Mamba.
The ordinance comes on the heels of a May 9 incident when a group of El Camino Middle School students said they smoked spice before school. Three students were transported to Marion Regional Medical Center and paramedics cleared the two others at the scene.
Spice has been linked to a range of deleterious health effects, including nausea, muscle palpitations, profuse sweating, rapid heart rate, agitation, confusion, and hallucinations. It can raise blood pressure and has been linked to heart attacks and strokes in some cases. Withdrawal and addiction symptoms have been described in regular users.
Other cities on the Central Coast have already banned spice, including Lompoc, Atascadero, Guadalupe, Morro Bay and Paso Robles. California’s Health and Safety Code already bans synthetic stimulant compounds and derivates, as well as “analogues” of controlled substances. The federal government has sought to do the same through the Controlled Substances Act.
Several varieties of synthetic drugs have nonetheless managed to circumvent state and federal law, and certain classes of synthetics remain available on the Internet and sometimes at brick-and-mortar locations. Synthetic analogues of prohibited drugs proliferate quickly, making it difficult to keep abreast of their variations. Screens for synthetic drugs lag behind this proliferation. Identification of novel varieties as derivatives of prohibited substances is an expensive proposition that requires time and lab work.
A second reading of the ordinance is tentatively scheduled for June.