6/28/11 Millersburg passes anti-'bath salts' ordinance

  • By Nick Sabo
  • June 28, 2011
  • 274
                        
SUMMARY: Law targets products that contain synthetic drugs Bath salts and plant food containing synthetic drugs that mimic methamphetamine and cocaine are now illegal to sell or possess in Millersburg. A ordinance passed Monday June 27 by Millersburg Village Council makes it a criminal offense to possess synthetic drugs passing themselves off as legal products. The village joins numerous other Ohio communities who have passed laws banning the products, usually referred to as “bath salts”. The bath salts differ from other products in the same presumed category, such as epsom salts, in that they contain synthetic drugs that produce highs similar to methamphetamine and cocaine when ingested. The source of the products is believed to be in Asian countries and are sold through convience stores and gas stations and so-called ‘head shops’, according to the Cleveland branch of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. The ordinance makes it illegal to either hold or sell bath salts in Millersburg. Millersburg Police Chief Tom Vaughn said it is not known if the bath salts are being sold locally, but are being used. Bath salts were discovered in a raid of a Perkins Street residence where police found a marijuana grow operation. A complaint of a smashed truck windshield turned out to be the result of hallucinations brought on by the owner’s use of bath salts, Vaughn said. “We’ve had several incidents where it has been inferred but not connected, and in the last five or six weeks we’ve been able to make a direct connection,” Vaughn said. “It is being used locally. We don’t know for sure if it is being sold in Millersburg.” The synthetics contained in bath salts are not currently classified as a controlled substance and are therefore not regulated by state or federal laws. Millersburg Solicitor Bob Hines said the ordinance was crafted under Ohio’s home rule doctrine. If an unregulated substance is presenting a risk to the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, a municipality has the power to make the substance illegal within their jurisdiction. Hines, who is also a magistrate in Wayne County, said he has seen domestic violence cases connected to use of bath salts. The salts are usually snorted in the same form they are purchased, Vaughn said. They are also smoked or injected. Possible bath salt overdoses have been reported in Marion, Richland, Medina and Ross counties. There are similar ordinances to the one passed by Millersburg council in municipalities in Richland and Wayne counties, Hines said, representing “a groundswell” of efforts to make bath salts illegal. The Millersburg ordinance makes sale of bath salts a crime punishable up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. If the sale is to a minor, the jail time and fines double. Anyone found to be in possession of bath salts can be fined up to $150. Vaughn said businesses will be given a grace period to comply with the law. “Now that the ordinance is passed, we will be checking businesses,” Vaughn said. “We’ll give them the opportunity to do the right thing.”


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