Nassau weighs total ban on ‘synthetic pot’

It’s marketed as herbal incense at gas stations and convenience stores across the country, but what’s sold under brand names like Spice and K2 is really a combination of herbs and chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, according to the New York State Department of Health. While smoking the compound, users might suffer heart attacks, respiratory distress or kidney failure.

Until March, the product was legal in New York. That changed when the state health department moved to ban so-called synthetic marijuana, but the department’s edict carries only fines and no criminal penalties.

If a store owner is caught selling synthetic marijuana more than once, the county health department can file a complaint with the state health department, which can then ask the state attorney general’s office to act. Those found to violate the ban can face a fine of up to $2,000. Since the ban, no one has been penalized, according to the state.

Now Nassau County lawmakers are weighing legislation to ban chemical-coated incense and impose criminal penalties for distributing and selling it here. Republican County Executive Ed Mangano and Legislator David Denenberg, a Democrat from Merrick, have proposed separate pieces of legislation. With bipartisan support, a county ban is expected to pass.

“It’s more effective and efficient to have an outright ban,” Denenberg said. “This bill goes farther than a recent New York State Department of Health initiative by imposing an outright ban on synthetic cannabinoids.”

Synthetic marijuana is currently banned in 40 states. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration banned five chemicals found in it last March, but marketers of the incense quickly redistributed it with a new set of chemicals. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has proposed banning synthetic marijuana across the country, but the measure has been blocked by Republicans who say it’s up to the states to impose such a ban.