CUMBERLAND — A law already enacted by Allegany County commissioners banning many synthetic drugs may have a chance to become a statewide law, with some modifications, after being prefiled by Delegate Kevin Kelly for consideration in the General Assembly session, which begins Wednesday in Annapolis.
“We have the ability to shut these shops down. If there is a shop in your jurisdiction and they are selling this stuff, shut it down. If you have the laws in place, you can shut them down,” Kelly has said. “We have to protect our young people from these drugs.”
The substances are often sold in small shops offering smoking tobacco and equipment.
Prosecutors need an additional law to be able to go after as many of the substances as possible.
The law contains about four pages of chemical compounds that would be banned for imitating the psychoactive substances in marijuana.
A county law banning most of the substances and possible derivatives was enacted by commissioners in 2012. Kelly worked with Sheriff Craig Robertson and county commissioners to initiate the county law last year.
“I’ll totally support any ... laws or enforcement tools,” Robertson said, after hearing of the state proposal.
While Maryland bans bath salts and some synthetic drugs, the existing laws and regulations aren’t comprehensive and manufacturers and sellers often manage to skirt prosecution. Chemists can often construct new substances that aren’t covered by existing laws.
A statewide solution has been recommended by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Robertson said the local law, passed in September, is bringing positive results.
The drugs are often referred to as synthetic pot and often are lumped in with bath salts, although the drugs are somewhat different. Some bath salts are already illegal in Maryland, according to Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The effects of the drugs are “troubling to law enforcement and medical professionals,” Robertson has said. And the highs of the drugs can bring on some nasty lows and dangerous behavior. The drugs can cause medical and psychological problems including cardiac disturbances, agitation, delirium, paranoia and psychosis, Allegany County Health Department officials have said.
The General Assembly’s website can be found at: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frm1st.aspx?tab=home.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com.
Local News
Related Photos
-
KEVIN KELLY
Banning artificial pot to be reviewed
- Local News
-
-
The Big One: Preparing for major mid-America earthquake
It’s a bleak scenario. A massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault kills or injures 60,000 people in Tennessee. A quarter of a million people are homeless. The Memphis airport — the country’s biggest air terminal for packages — goes off-line. Major oil and gas pipelines across Tennessee rupture, causing shortages in the Northeast.
-
County plans to regulate piercings and change rules for tattoo parlors
While Allegany County regulates tattoos, it does not currently regulate body piercings, but the county health department is planning to change that situation soon.
Legitimate tattoo and piercing shops are cooperating in the update, county health officials have said. -
Residents adopt American chestnut trees
Cradling her small American chestnut tree as if it were a newborn baby, Nancy Bean was ready Saturday afternoon to return to her Backbone Mountain home where she would grab a shovel and plant a part of the country’s heritage.
-
Remember the rumble? Some fled local buildings after shock waves in August 2011
Just when you thought that earthquakes would never happen here — that they are for California and other far-flung places — the events of August 2011 turned that thinking upside-down.
-
Upset at Pimlico
-
Frostburg State University
-
Allegany College of Maryland
-
I-68 downtown ramp to reopen Monday
The exit 43C ramp from eastbound Interstate 68 to downtown Cumberland will remain closed through Monday morning to allow crews to repair the concrete driving surface.
-
Mineral deputy, K-9 partner named top team in W.Va.
Mineral County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Smith and K-9 Kira were awarded West Virginia K-9 Team of the Year by the West Virginia Police Canine Association earlier this month.
-
City marbles tournament set Monday, Tuesday at Constitution Park rings
The Cumberland Parks and Recreation Department will hold the annual City Marbles Tournament at the Constitution Park marble rings Monday and Tuesday.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
Raw: Texas Gov. Flies Over Tornado Damage
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials Arrest Man in Idaho in Terrorism Case
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
Sheriff: Expected 'More Loss of Life' in Tornado
Raw: School Bus Crash Injures Five Children
Quick Response Saved Baby on Phila. Train Tracks
