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North Logan joins local ‘banned wagon’ against spice

October 7th, 2010 Posted in Opinion

By Chelsee Niebergall

NORTH LOGAN–The City Council approved an ordinance Wednesday that puts restrictions on the manufacture, distribution, possession and use of synthetic cannabinoids, more commonly known as “spice.”

People from the community came to the meeting wanting to know more about this ordinance and how the council was going to vote on it. “There really hasn’t been any introduction to spice, I must be living in a bubble,” said Lydia Emery, a North Logan resident.

Emery wanted the council to explain to her, as well as the rest of the citizens who were present, what spice really was. She asked questions on why it was an issue and why the banning of spice was going from city to city.

To answer her questions Mayor Lloyd Berentzen said “we do have one place that sells this substance we are aware of, and that is why I have brought it to the council tonight.”

The council also noted that spice isn’t meant to be consumed, and that if consumed, people can have a severe reaction to it. Berentzen said there have been a number of police reports showing problems with individuals who consume the substance.

Berentzen also serves on the health department board and said that they have been seeing more and more people who are addicted to spice.

“The reason it is being passed city to city is because prosecution is better if it is under a municipal code ordinance and it is easier to issue criminal penalties,” said Berentzen.

It took little discussion for the council to pass the ordinance unanimously.

The council also passed a resolution approving an equipment lease for a North Park Police Department vehicle. The police department will be leasing a vehicle from Ken Garff for two years for $18,000 a year, instead of purchasing it for $30,000. The council discussed the pricing and voted that the police department could lease the vehicle.

Water and sewer connections for the development of a property outside the boundaries of North Logan were passed, along with a loan from Water Enterprise Fund to the General Fund to purchase real property.

NW

Tags: ban, North Logan, spice