Oakland Officials Hit Snag in Attempt to Fast-Track Statewide 'Cloud 9' Synthetic Pot Ban

Cloud 9 often comes in liquid form. Users smoke it with marijuana or in e-cigarettes, and sometimes put it in energy drinks.

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Oakland County officials are joining with their counterparts in Wayne and Macomb counties and are working to fast-track legislation that would ban statewide synthetic marijuana marketed under the names of “Cloud 9” and “Hookah Relax.”

Earlier this week, Wayne and Macomb county officials declared rare “imminent danger” warnings about the substances, which have been connected to medical emergencies involving six area kids

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• After More Kids Hospitalized, Officials Take Rare Step to Combat Synthetic Drug

Getting an outright ban on Cloud 9 isn’t as easy as officials expected after a state law banning synthetic cannabinoids was passed in 2012, The Oakland Press reports.

The problem is that clever street chemists alter the molecular structure of banned substances just enough to stay ahead law. Cloud 9 is among the synthetics specifically banned, but the structural nuances of the molecular properties could keep the variety found in Oakland County inside the law, county health officials said.

“Turns out it’s not as easy as we thought it was,” Oakland County Health Division Director George Miller said. “This law did not help things. If anything, it made them a little more confusing.”

The confusion comes at a time when use of the synthetic drug is spiraling with some serious consequences. to users that prompted the crackdown in the two neighboring counties.

After two students at John Glenn High School were hospitalized Monday after using the synthetic marijuana, Westland Police Chief said the synthetics, sold as air fresheners, are “absolutely deadly.” Earlier this month, four students at Salem High School in Canton were treated after using Cloud 9. Throughout southeastern Michigan, nearly two dozen teens have been hospitalized after using the substance, The Oakland Press said.

Among the side effects are symptoms that mimic a heart attack, including chest pain and a quickening pulse rate; high blood pressure; hallucinations; paranoia; agitation; and thoughts of suicide.

Though troubling, the increase in use of the substance didn’t “blindside” officials, who say kids across the country are using it to get high.

Capt. Joe Quisenberry of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Crime Lab Investigative Services division said store owners contacted in a law enforcement sweep of places where Cloud 9 has been reported said business owners seem to understand the substance is potentially deadly.

“Store owners are saying they heard it was dangerous and have taken it off the shelves,” he said. “In terms of containment, it looks like we’re getting a handle on this very fast ... before we have any (more) hospital visits by teenage kids.”

Even so, but county health department is pursuing a ban, though no one knows how long the process will take.

Oakland County Health Division Manager Kathy Forzley has asked for advice from theMichigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Community Health about the process of getting a statewide “imminently dangerous” ban or warning. While questions remain, what’s clear is that simply submitting a substance without an associated crime or complaint won’t be enough.

“You … need an expert witness that will be able to testify that it the substance comes with a negative health effect,” she said.