Synthetic Marijuana Coming Off the Shelves in Sarasota

On December 24, a national statute will officially outlaw synthetic marijuana. Today, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office sent out a press release stating that the Sheriff's Office is  "cracking down on retailers that sell products containing synthetic cannabinoids and are informally marketed as synthetic marijuana."

Throughout the week county deputies visited establishments that sold the synthetic marijuana and gave them a packet with information about the new law and made the person they spoke with sign a sheet to acknowledge they had received the packet.

While the national statute takes effect on Christmas Eve, the press release does not mention a specific date after which someone can be charged for selling synthetic marijuana in Sarasota.

"The DEA law takes affect the 24^th, but there are other laws on the books that allow us to take action," said the Sheriff's Office community affairs manager, Wendy Rose. "They are being told that we can enforce the other laws immediately," she said of the deputies' visits to businesses that sell synthetic marijuana. She would not elaborate on what those laws are.

Sarasota Patch visited three establishments that have sold the synthetic marijuana, also called K2, Salvia and Space, among others.

Solorzano's Smoke Shop on Siesta Key and Rocket Man off S. Tamiami both had versions of the synthetic marijuana for sale and both said they would continue to sell it until Dec. 24. They said, however, they were not told to stop selling before that date.

"[The deputy] just came in and handed me the packet and that's pretty much it," said Nima Gharavi, manager of Solorzano's. "He didn't mention anything, didn't give me a date. He just kind of handed me this [packet] and had me sign a piece of paper that said he gave me this packet."

After Dec. 24, Gharavi said the loss  of the incense would negatively impact his store.

"I think it will hurt business because it's actually really popular," he said. "We have this stuff called Space, after this came out stuff, we couldn't keep it on the shelf. It's ridiculous."

While Gharavi said he thinks losing the products will hurt business, he said the law is not all bad.

"I'm not a big fan of the incense," he said. "I feel like the stories I've heard about it, it's kind of good they are cracking down on it. They don't know any health side effects of it or anything."

The on Orange Ave, in the Burns Ct area, use to have a sign hanging from the front register that said 'we now carry K2.'

The sign is gone and so is the K2.

On. Nov. 24 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency gave 30 days notice that it would be outlawing synthetic marijuana for a year so that the agency had time to study the substance.

From that point, Short Stop sold the rest of the K2 but did not order another batch. The store said it has not sold any K2 since Thanksgiving.

The Sheriff's Office said it does not want to wait until the 24^th to target synthetic marijuana.

"It's a health concern, a safety concern and we don't want to wait," Rose said.

The synthetic marijuana is sold as incense.

"I make sure I tell all my customers that it's incense and that whatever you do outside of the store, that it's at their discretion," Gharavi said.

The Sheriff's Office says that the 'incense' are herbs that are sprayed with research chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. These chemicals are being designated as Schedule I controlled substances by the DEA.