Synthetic marijuana has proven to be a challenging substance to ban.
Indiana’s Senate Bill 57, which recently passed its third reading 47-0, contains 17 chemical compositions that mimic the effects of marijuana. State Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport, said it was difficult to write a bill that encompassed all potential ingredients of marijuana-like products.
“We’re under no illusion,” Head said. “We’re going to have to go back and every once in awhile add another chemical to it when the manufacturers get out ahead of us again. That’s just the nature of the beast. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
The substance is commonly sold under many names including Spice, K2, Kind and Pep. The products are marketed as herbal incense and labeled, “not for human consumption,” but a growing number of people are ingesting the products to get a legal “high.”
Lawmakers have been urged by health and law enforcement officials to ban the substance because of its alleged adverse reactions such as increased heart rates and hallucinations.
Stories have surfaced of people resisting law enforcement and wanting to kill themselves while under the influence of the incense.
Bans already exist in several counties, including Cass, but lawmakers are seeking a statewide ban to make the possession or sale of synthetic marijuana a crime rather than an infraction that carries only a fine.
The consequences would be the same as those for real marijuana.
Possessing a “synthetic cannabinoid” would be a class A misdemeanor or a class D felony, depending on the quantity.
Punishment ranges from up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine for the misdemeanor and six months to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine for the felony.
The proposed law, which is now being reviewed in the House of Representatives, will require amendments to close loopholes that open up in the future because each composition must be explicitly listed.
An Associated Press story reported that some legislators think that prosecuting offenders could be difficult if they use chemical compounds different from those stated in the bill.
Head, a former deputy prosecutor, said if the law passes, Indiana will be ahead of the game. The federal government, he said, was looking at outlawing just five ingredients, which is the amount most Spice or K-2 products in Indiana contain.
“We’re trying to get out ahead of them by finding another 12 that are being used across the country,” Head said.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.