City Council amends ordinance to ban sales of synthetic drugs

Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 5:28 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 5:28 p.m.

Shop owners in the city of Ocala who sell synthetic drugs, such as those known as bath salts, spice or potpourri, may find themselves at odds with Ocala Police or the city's code enforcement officers.

The Ocala City Council on Tuesday voted 4-0 to amend the drugs and prostitution ordinance by prohibiting the sale of synthetic drugs in the city limits.

"Hopefully, it will be ground-breaking, if it works," City Attorney Patrick Gilligan said about the ordinance. "It's a difficult prosecution." Gilligan told council members that makers of the synthetic drugs change their formulas faster than federal officials can list them as illegal in the federal statutes' schedule of drugs, which the state adopts.

Synthetic drugs often are sold in stores as household items and can have effects similar to and sometimes stronger than illegal drugs such as cocaine.

Gilligan explained that when a drug arrest is made, the substance is sent to a laboratory to be tested for composition. The results confirm that a drug is, for example, cocaine. However, if the substance is made of a composition that is not listed in the schedule of drugs, it is not considered an illegal drug,

"These are non-scheduled," Gilligan said. "It's uncharted territory."

Ocala Police Deputy Chief Rodney Smith spoke in favor of the ordinance.

"It gives us a little teeth," Smith said.

John Rewis, a self-proclaimed former drug user, said the drugs are more serious than people realize.

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City Council amends ordinance to ban sales of synthetic drugs