County Moves to Ban Spice, Bath Salts

Council had its first of three necessary readings to ban legal substances that can be sold in convenience stores that can allegedly mimic an illegal substance.

The vote was unanimous with Councilman David Chinnis absent from Monday's regular meeting of council in St. George. A public hearing will be held on the ban Nov. 7 at Summerville meeting of council. 

The county would prohibit the advertisement, possession, purchase, sale or use the two substances called "synthetic cannabinoids" or "synthetic stimulants." 

K2 and Spice are brands of the cannabinoid substance, marketed as an herbal incense that mimics the affects of marijuana. Bath salts is the name commonly given to synthetic stimulants, which can produce hallucinations.

"It's just a synthetic narcotic," PIO Maj. John Garrison said Tuesday. 

In September, sheriff deputies responded to three incidents in the county involving the synthetic drugs. 

In a Sept. 24 incident, a mother received a phone call from her 21-year-old son who, allegedly while under the affects of bath salts, said police were surrounding him in a field and he could not feel his limbs. 

If the ordinance goes through to final reading, Dorchester County will join the growing number of counties and municipalities throughout the country working to ban the substance.

"It's easier to do something through the state or local level because the federal bureaucracy is just so big," Garrison said.