Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Nevada lawmakers call for ban on synthetic cocaine, marijuana

weedz

MONA SHIELD PAYNE / SPECIAL TO IN BUSINESS LAS VEGAS

Burning of aromatherapy herbal blends of synthetic marijuana is demonstrated in the downtown shop Weedz Alternatives in April 2010. Weedz went out of business when it lost an appeal to the Las Vegas City Council.

CARSON CITY — Synthetic drugs that mirror cocaine and marijuana are showing up more often in Nevada, and some state legislators are unhappy that the state Pharmacy Board has not taken action to ban them.

Assemblywoman April Mastroluca, chairwoman of the Legislative Committee on Health Care, said it’s been almost a year since the 2011 Legislature discussed the problem and she is frustrated the Pharmacy Board had not adopted a regulation to prohibit the “synthetic cannabinoids and bath salts.”

Police and a drug counselor also expressed concern at a committee meeting Tuesday about the use of the drugs that can be purchased legally at stores.

Mastroluca, D-Henderson, said the drugs are killing people, and the inaction by the Pharmacy Board is “unacceptable.”

On the street, the drugs are known as fake cocaine or K-2. Police and a drug counselor also expressed concerned about its growing use.

Carolyn Cramer, general counsel for the Pharmacy Board, said a public hearing is set for Thursday on regulating the substances.

The board had to follow procedures for getting approval from the governor’s office to draft a regulation and put together a preliminary draft for review by legislative attorneys, she said.

After the Pharmacy Board adopts a regulation, it must be cleared by the Legislative Commission.

“We don’t need any more dope on our streets,” said David Marlin, owner of a Las Vegas drug and rehabilitation center. Kids are snorting, ingesting and smoking the synthetic drugs, he said.

Bruce Gentner, representing the Nevada Narcotics Officers Association, said his organization has made it top priority to outlaw synthetic drugs. Numerous manufacturers are coming to Nevada to make them because it is legal, he said.

Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, said there were bills to outlaw the drugs at the last Legislature.

“We had the hammer in our hands, and we handed it over to the Board of Pharmacy,” said Hardy, a physician. “We’re frustrated.”

More than 30 states already have banned these substances.

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