Any chemicals manufactured "with the intent to circumvent the criminal penalties for synthetic cannabinoids or other substances banned" will be subject to the criminal penalties of whatever it is intended to imitate, if a bill sent out of committee Monday becomes law.
Bill 30-0258, sponsored by Sen. Sammuel Sanes, amends a law he sponsored in 2013 prohibiting the family of chemicals used to make intoxicants sold over the counter as bath salts and so-called "synthetic marijuana." (See Related Links below)
The original law [Act 7472] gives a long list of chemical terms for the intoxicating components that are used in various combinations to create ostensibly legal intoxicants that can be sold without a prescription. The same chemicals are sold as powdered "bath salts" and as a kind of scented potpourri marketed as "synthetic marijuana."
The bill approved in committee amends that law to include any compounds produced with the intent to evade that law’s reach.
Police Commissioner Rodney Querrard and Health Commissioner Darice Plaskett testified that some stores and gas stations had previously been selling some of these compounds and that people have smoked them under the mistaken belief they are safe and legal.
“Synthetic marijuana is often sold as incense or potpourri and can be branded with names like K2, Spice, Kush or Klimax, and others,” Plaskett said. “The substance is a mixture of various herbs, sprayed with an assortment of chemicals whose effects purportedly produce experiences similar to marijuana."
"Labels on these produces often claim that they contain ‘natural’ psychoactive material taken from a variety of plants,” Plaskett added, noting that these products do contain dried plant material, but “chemical analyses show that their active ingredients are synthetic or designer compounds.”
Querrard said that, to his knowledge, no one had died from ingesting these substances in the territory, but there had been several hospitalizations locally and some patients had suffered long-term mental effects. Plaskett confirmed there had been several hospitalizations, but no fatalities in the territory, although there have been fatalities associated with smoking the chemicals on the mainland.
Sen. Judi Buckley asked whether any arrests had been made under the law passed last year.
Assistant Police Commissioner Thomas Hannah said no arrests were made but "some gas stations were approached and told to take the stuff off their shelves.”
Sen. Terrence "Positive" Nelson said he could understand the health issue and could support the provision, but objected to tying it to marijuana.
Attorney General Vincent Frazer said the law targeted only synthetic compounds and also targeted synthetic amphetamines and MDMA.
"All of those are synthetic except for marijuana. My concern is only one plant is included in this slew of synthetic drugs and the focus is on that plant," Nelson said, adding that he also did not like criminalizing users rather than manufacturers.
"If somebody has a problem, the solution is not to make them a criminal," Nelson said.
Nelson recalled that some senators had supported the bill saying if it can work elsewhere it can work here. "Well, marijuana is legal in some places. That can work here too," he said. "Some senators support gay marriage here but won’t support legalizing marijuana," he said.
Voting to send the bill on for consideration in the Rules and Judiciary Committee were Sanes, Buckley, Sens. Craig Barshinger and Kenneth Gittens. Sens. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and Tregenza Roach were absent.
The committee also took testimony on a bill to require both psychological testing and background checks of all applicants for a V.I. firearm license and to ensure secure storage facilities for firearms.
After fierce and acrimonious debate and some strong opposition from some senators, that bill [30-0103] was held due to a lack of a quorum.
Gittens introduced the bill, saying it aimed to make tragedies like those in Aurora, Colo., or Sandy Hook, CT. – shootings carried out by mentally ill aggressors – less likely.
Frazer and Querrard testified in support of the bill, also pointing to the dangers posed by seriously mentally ill persons with firearms.
John Canegata, the owner of a shooting range on St. Croix, and attorney Michael Sheesley, owner of Tactical Arms, a federal firearms license-holder in the territory, both testified against the bill, arguing it infringed on the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Sheesley also argued it was redundant because the V.I. Code already prohibits people who have been determined to be mentally defective, or who have been committed to a mental institution, from possessing firearms.
Chief public defender Samuel L. Joseph opposed the new law on very different grounds, saying it "will not pass Constitutional muster" due to its vagueness and subjectivity.
Sanes and Buckley challenged the proposal, arguing that placing hurdles in the way of law-abiding citizens would not reduce violent crime. Buckley said she suspected there were very few incidents where a licensed firearm was used by its licensed owner to commit a crime.
Gittens said those arguments were not reasons for inaction.
"Yes, we know the criminal element will ignore the law. But that doesn’t mean we just ignore the problem," Gittens said.
