SYNTHETIC POT FOUND AT SEVEN STORES, NEW ALBANY POLICE SAY

New Albany Police on Tuesday cited seven stores that they say sold
synthetic marijuana to undercover officers in violation of a new city
ordinance prohiting the sale of such products.

Police Chief Todd Bailey said the stores were each fined $50 as called
for in the ordinance passed last November.

Products displayed by officers in a news conference included Kimchi
Blueberry Spice, Candyman Blends, Fuego Spice, Nirvana Spice and
Buddha's Blend Spice ranging in price from $9.99 to $16.04 per
package, typically 1.5 grams.

The substances are not federally regulated but are being banned by an
increasing number of states and local governments because they are
said to contain chemical re-creations of the cannabanoids in marijuana.

Indiana lawmakers are considering a ban during their current
legislative session.

Bailey said the products have "an intoxicating effect similar to or
equal to that of marijuana."

Officers cited Marathon stores at 2100 East Spring St., 624 West Main
St. and 523 Vincennes St.; BP stores at 2202 East Spring St., 2589
Charlestown Road and 327 West Fifth St; and Exotic Herbal & Smoke
Outlet, 1108 West Main Str.

A man who answered the phone at Exotic Herbal & Smoke Outlet several
hours after the citations were issued would not give his name but said
he had established that the Nirvana Spice sold there is legal and that
the fine had been waived.

Bailey said later, "That's probably not an accurate
statement."

City Attorney Shane Gibson said his office did get a call from an
attorney representing one of the stores but he had not yet spoken with
the attorney.

At the BP store at 2202 East Spring, Manager Jaspar Sings told a
reporter by phone that his supplier assured him that the Candyman
Blends officers bought from the store are legal across the U.S..

The ordinance calls for fines to escalate to $150 for a second
offense, $300 for a third offense and $1,000 for the fourth and
subsequent offenses. Beyond that, Gibson said the city would ask a
court to issue an injunction against a store that continually refuses
to comply with the ordinance.