HENDERSON CO., KY (WFIE) -
Synthetic marijuana could be taken off the shelves in Henderson County stores.
The fiscal court just approved the first reading of an ordinance that would ban the sale of all types of the substance.
County officials tell 14 News, there's a Kentucky law against K-2, but manufacturers are changing the formulas so fast, that yearly state laws can't keep up. So they say the county is stepping in to get those substances off the streets.
"We've seen some really scary effects of this," said Henderson County attorney Steve Gold.
It's a drug that comes in many forms, with packages advertising it as '100 percent legal'. It's even coming in flavors like bubble-gum and is geared toward kids.
Gold says while some synthetic compounds are still legal, they can do more medical harm than marijuana itself.
"We're not seeing people show up in convulsions and having psychotic reactions or suicidal ideations at the hospital from smoking marijuana," said Gold.
Gold says the number of DUI's related to the substances is increasing as is the drug's availability.
"The poison control center got 300 calls about this in 2010 and it was almost 3,200 in 2011," said Gold.
"Exponentially, weekly it gets more and more, we get more calls on it," said John Book, who is a Detective Sergeant with Henderson County Sheriff's Office.
The ordinance targets the compounds created by four groups of manufacturers including researchers at an overseas university, an effort the county says is all about public safety.
"We're not going to be able to eradicate it, but if we can just get some parents out there knowing that it is a problem," said Gold.
Gold says there are eight shops in the county that sell the drug and a couple of the stores 14 News talked with today say they've already pulled it from their shelves.
The county says the ordinance's second reading will be on March sixth and if passed at that meeting, those products will be banned immediately.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
