-- Valdosta, Ga. -- June 19, 2012 --
The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office confiscated more than $14,000 dollars worth of synthetic marijuana. The store owners are the ones profiting. But now they're also being targeted
On June 11th of this year Georgia banned synthetic marijuana sales in the state. It was the third legal action trying to do so. The reason: manufacturers keep changing the chemical makeup of the synthetic pot to avoid the law. The most recent legal action aims to shift the responsibility away from those manufacturers.
A Special Operations Division investigator told us "with the legislation as it stands now, It would fall upon the person possessing it, the person buying it, the person selling it. i.e. the store distributor and or the upper level distributor to ensure that they are conforming to the laws of the state of Georgia."
Because this member of the Special Operations Division is involved in active investigations we can't show his face. He has been busy. The Sheriff's Office confiscated these synthetic drugs from 4 local stores in Valdosta.
One local resident, Daniel Payne, has tried the drug. He described its effects saying "it actually felt like temporary insanity whilst on it and it wasn't pleasant."
No arrests have been made at this time. The Sheriff's Office will test the substance to confirm it is in fact synthetic marijuana before pressing charges.
