The screwy stuff that arises out of the addiction culture is sometimes amazing.
Follow the logic here…
In an attempt to circumvent marijuana laws, companies started marketing bath salts and incense containing synthetics that mimicked weed. They were legal for awhile, until authorities caught on to the scam and made those products illegal to sell in West Virginia. Fine. But now comes a story about a novelty shop accused of violating the law.
Police seized a reported $100,000 worth of incense they claim contains synthetic marijuana compounds. The store owner’s excuse? The package has printed on it, “Complies with West Virginia House Bill 2505.”
If that seems a bit fishy, it probably should. First of all, who carries a hundred grand worth of incense? Unless, just maybe, it’s selling really well as something other than incense. And the manufacturer changed the label to reflect our new law? Or did they just add some text so they could get store owners to purchase it?
The store owner, Kenneth Holliday, is taking it up with the Kanawha County Health Board, which is having the products tested to determine just what they contain. The problem may be that there are many different synthetics available that are derived from THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Manufacturers could simply switch what they spray on the incense and claim compliance with West Virginia law.
It remains to be seen whether or not the charges will stick. If they don’t, Mr. Holliday will get his merchandise back. On the other hand, who will buy it if it’s just plain old incense?
The real joke here is that everyone knows what’s really going on. A business wants to exploit a loophole in the drug laws to make a profit – and ethics be damned. This wouldn’t be as big a deal if the items in question weren’t already known to have caused ER visits and a few deaths.
