Monday, 10-11-10
Towson’s campus and community news source Online daily at thetowerlight.com
Synthetic THC banned
in Baltimore County
SAMANTHA POWELL
Staff Writer
LAUREN SLAVIN
Senior Editor
During the middle of the summer, Towson University junior Bill,
who requested to not have his real name revealed, was caught with
drug paraphernalia in his car. It’s a charge worthy of a fine, potential
prison time and if kept on his record, could hinder future employment
opportunities. Bill was able to negotiate having the charge stricken from
his record as long as he would take drug classes for a year and have his
urine tested regularly during that time
Bill has been clean for more than two months, at least, according to
his drug tests. But a new popular substance has allowed him to beat
the system that only tests for Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active
substance found in marijuana.
"It’s not really cheating the test, because what you’re doing is legal,"
Bill said. "But it just feels so weird because you’re like, ‘I’m holding the
bowl, it’s got green herbs in it and I’m smoking it.’ And it’s weird to
think what I’m doing is 100 percent legal. And I’m getting high from it
and there’s nothing the cops can do. It’s just weird.”
Bill is one of many young adults who have taken the legal route to
getting high, or at least what used to be legal. JWH, a synthetic can-
nabinoid, is available in more than five chemical forms and produces
effects similar to THC.
Monday, Oct. 4, the Baltimore County Council unanimously
voted legislation that bans the sale and possession of synthetic
marijuana products, specifically K2, a potpourri blend that con¬
tains JWH. Other potpourri blends with names like
КЗ,
Red Dot,
Spice, Funky Monkey and Game Over, which contain varying poten¬
cies of the chemical, are still available in stores around Maryland.
Sponsored by democratic county executive candidate councilman Kevin
Kamenetz, the new bill states that anyone attempting to sell, distribute
and/or possess K2 and other products that mimic marijuana will face a
$500 fine, 60 days in jail or both.
"As a parent, I am keenly aware of our government’s responsibility
to protect children and families. Baltimore County is a wonderful place
to live, work and raise a family, and I am very pleased that a group of
concerned mothers in the Catonsville area brought this issue to my
attention," Kamenetz said on his campaign website.
Owners of Towson head shops Elevation Undergroimd and The
Other Side said they have not sold the synthetic marijuana. Geoff
Gentry, owner of Elevation Underground, has been in the head shop
industry since 1995 and has never seen such an explosion with a new
product.
"It’s like spice merchants gone wild,” he said.
Gentry said he doesn’t sell the product in his store and is against it
because there’s no regulatory system in place to determine what people
See JWH, page 8
Casey Prather/ The Towerlight
A Towson University student smokes JWH-laced potpourri out of a glass pipe in place of more expensive and illegal
marijuana. JWH, created by organic chemist John W. Huffman, can create a similar high to when using marijuana.
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