HPD Seizes 1000 Bottles Of CBD's Laced With Synthetic Marijuana

HOUSTON, TX — A raid by Houston police last week at three Houston area smoke shops resulted in the confiscation of more than 1000 bottles of cannabinoil products that officials said continued synthetic marijuana.

The raids brought a climactic end to an investigation lasting several months, where undercover officers purchased the oils, which were tested and found to contain properties of synthetic marijuana, which can be harmful and in many cases, lethal.

The smoke shops raided by HPD were:

• Fantasy at 1412 Westheimer Road
• Smokey Doke at 5784 Bingle Road
• Dreamerz at 2961 Bingle Road

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who was backed by officials from the health district, said people are buying CBD's from these smoke shops thinking they are harmless, when they can have dire effects.

"What a lot of people are doing is using these to self-medication, they are vaporizing; a lot of young people are doing it," he said. "In too many instances when we conduct our investigation, we're finding that a lot of this stuff is mixed by people that are not chemists, they are not pharmacists...they are actually peopled who are playing Russian roulette...(with other people's lives)."

A CBD, or cannabinoil, is an oil that contains properties of marijuana without the intoxicating effects normally associated with marijuana.

Many who use CBD boast of the medical benefits without the high, and it is legal.

"Being a Latino, I can imagine my mother trying to find some magic potion to treat some kind of ailment," he said.

However, many of these CBD's are laced with Kush or synthetic marijuana, which not only has intoxicating effects, but can cause a number of health issues, cause organ failure and death.

Acevedo, who called the substances "voodoo," said several arrests were made, and all three shops have been sued as being a nuisance and have been ordered to stop selling illegal substances.

"We need to get the word out that this is dangerous," said Houston City Council Member Brenda Stardig. "We need to educate our youth and our children that everything is not as innocent as it looks."

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