The synthetic drugs in bath salts and Spice, which have caused hundreds of overdoses downtown and in Hillcrest, were banned Monday in an 8-0 vote by the San Diego City Council.
The drugs are sometimes sold in smoke shops or other small stores and also sold on the street. Some bath salts are sold under the label of potpourri or incense.
The possession, sale, distribution and manufacture of Spice and bath salts was declared a misdemeanor and violators would be subject to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
“This is really important to my council district,” said Councilmember Todd Gloria, who made the motion to declare the drugs illegal.
Gloria said the drug also adversely affects homeless people and it “keeps people homeless” if they use it. Second District Councilmember Lorie Zapf seconded the motion.
“We’re going to be on the leading edge on this issue,” said Gloria.
San Diego is the first city in the state to pass a law outlawing these synthetic drugs, according to City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. The state outlawed five versions of Spice in 2011, but chemists changed the way the drugs were made and were not illegal.
The ordinance will require a second reading in June for it to become official and it is expected to go into effect in July.
The use of these drugs can cause seizures, hallucinations, comas, vomiting, agitation, aggression, foaming from the mouth and death.
People began collapsing from these drugs downtown Nov. 22, 2015, and all had purchased them from people on the street. Emergency medical personnel have responded to 412 incidents with these drugs, according to a City Council report.
There were 78 incidents in District 3, 302 incidents downtown, with 32 incidents elsewhere from November to March 2016, according to the report.
Ambulance charges for Spice overdoses generated $1.5 million from March 2015 through April 2016, according to the City Attorney’s office. A total of 379 people were taken by ambulance and it accounted for 728 transports to hospital emergency rooms with some of the same people overdosing more than once.
Spice, also known as Fake Weed, looks like marijuana while bath salts look like cocaine, the Council was told. They are made when synthetically created chemicals are sprayed onto a plant substance. Bath salts, also known as synthetic cathinone are made in granular form similar to salt.
There were 18 people in favor who signed up to speak to the Council.
I am curious if anyone at the hearing realized that the natural herb kratom was also included in this ban on synthetic and dangerous substances? The City included the two key alkaloids of the kratom plant — and, while they claim the plant is not itself banned — it leaves that possibility open to selective prosecution.
Many veterans with PTSD find great relief with this herb, as do many others who suffer from Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, Diabetes, and Addiction. It is a shame to deny law-abiding citizens this useful herb by the stealthy passage of this new city ordinance.