In Hoboken: Synthetic Marijuana Abuse On Rise Among Homeless, Police Say

The crackdown on fake weed in Hoboken continues.

Hoboken police are mounting an effort to address what they termed a “recent spike in the abuse of synthetic cannabinoids [among] the homeless individuals in our city.”

Over the past months, several arrests have been made involving the sale and possession of synthetic marijuana, a CDS that’s illegal under federal and state law.

On Monday, the HPD announced that three related arrests took place over the July 4th weekend.

The first incident occurred at Pier A Park on Friday around 1:30 p.m., when an officer on patrol allegedly caught a homeless Hoboken resident and a 27-year-old Bayonne man rolling a cigar filled with “Black Xtreme Aroma Therapy.”

The 30-year-old Hoboken man – Thomas Bellotti – was recently arrested outside of the McDonald’s on Washington Street for CDS possession during a separate incident.

• See related article: Fake Pot Arrest Made In Front Of McDonald’s

Both were charged with possession of synthetic marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and released with a future court date.

A second arrest took place about 15 minutes later in front of the McDonald’s on Washington Street, when officers responding to a report of a “man down” came upon a 26-year-old homeless resident who was “disoriented” and lying on the ground.

According to police, the man was caught with and admitted to smoking “K2,” a brand of synthetic cannabis.

He was charged with possession of synthetic marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, and released after medical clearance with a future court date.

OTHER RECENT ARRESTS

• On June 30, Hoboken police officers on an undercover stakeout allegedly caught two men – one a local homeless resident – smoking a joint containing “Ninja” brand synthetic cannabis.
• Two men were arrested in May for allegedly conducting a sale of “Train Wrecked Skunk” synthetic marijuana in the area of 8th and Washington streets. [See related article]

ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL AND STATE LAW

Synthetic marijuana, a designer drug with no similarities to true cannabis, has been banned federally since 2010 and has been illegal in New Jersey since 2013.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there have been 67 calls made to poison control centers in New Jersey for synthetic cannabis-related incidents this year.

While “synthetic marijuana” is often marketed as an alternative to cannabis, the active chemicals commonly found in its commercial varieties are completely different from Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component of true marijuana.

“A large and complex variety of synthetic cannabinoids, most often cannabicyclohexanol, JWH-018, JWH-073, or HU-210, are used in an attempt to avoid the laws that make cannabis illegal, making synthetic cannabis a designer drug,” states Wikipedia.