Pubdate: Wed, 01 Aug 2012
Source: Alton Telegraph, The (IL)
Copyright: 2012 The Telegraph
Contact:  http://www.thetelegraph.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1207

SYNTHETIC DRUG WAR REACHES AN APEX

Crackdown Must Continue

For months now, local and state authorities have been warning 
so-called head shops to remove the herbal incense and bath salt 
products that are clearly being abused by their purchasers. Last 
week, police took action.

In a sweep led as part of a national campaign called Operation Log 
Jam, law enforcement officers swarmed into hundreds of establishments 
in the metropolitan area, removing synthetic drug products from 
shelves and in some cases shutting down the retailers who were doing 
little more than feeding a public addiction.

We interviewed one man who shared his eye-opening, traumatic dealings 
with one Edwardsville store that was selling him an incense product 
that he would smoke to get high. The process led to an addiction that 
he is still trying to overcome.

His biggest hope, he told us, is to cut off the local supply so as 
not to be tempted.

Authorities did just that. Only a handful of shops were openly 
selling the products, protected to this point by the products' own 
labeling, which clearly states, "not for human consumption."

The products, however, were -- and are -- being consumed; let's us 
not kid ourselves. The overdose evidence has been coming in, in 
droves, during the past couple of years.

Three other Madison County stores were visited in the raids. Any 
seized evidence will be examined and charges brought if prosecutors 
can prove that the purveyors were selling the goods outside of the 
law. That will be a significant test of laws updated only recently by 
legislators, both local and federal.

In the case out of Edwardville, the store allegedly had taken the 
product from an open display case and put it behind a counter, 
indicating to us an understanding of the controversy.

That is not enough. These products need to be removed permanently and 
the retailers and producers behind this farce need to be made to 
answer to a growing problem.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom