Gov. Snyder Expected To Sign K2 Ban
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - The Michigan Senate has given final approval a ban on so-called synthetic marijuana, sending the legislation to Gov. Rick Snyder who is expected to sign it.
The substance, sold under trade names like Spice and K2, has been available in stores as a mix of dried herbs and spices sprayed with chemicals. It has been blamed for health problems and violent behavior, especially among young people.
Legislation approved Tuesday would crack down on synthetic cannabinoids and products sometimes referred to as bath salts.
"The state is trying to stay one step ahead of the crooks," said WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick. "This legislation basically allows the State Police to go in, starting July 1st, to take all of this stuff off of all of the shelves at gas stations, drug stores, wherever kids are finding it."
The bills also allow the Department of Community Health to declare health dangers when other synthetic drugs pop up.
Skubick said this will not affect local communities that have already passed their own bans.
"It does not supersede the. The local governments certainly have the right to do to do what they want on their own," Skubick said. "But this gives everybody now, all 83 counties, the authority to do this, so that local governments don't have to do it, unless of course they want to."
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