Councilman wants Spice ban to be ‘very tough’ on businesses that sell it

WASILLA — Whether the city council will enact an ordinance outlawing synthetic drugs hasn’t been much of a debate, but members have spent a lot of time deciding just how detailed that ban will be.

The city’s proposed ordinance would ban the possession and sale of synthetic marijuana colloquially known as Spice, bath salts or potpourri. The Municipality of Anchorage has enacted a Spice ordinance that targets the misleading packaging of synthetic drugs, and similar legislation is moving through the Legislature this session.

While the Wasilla ordinance has had support from most of the city council, councilman Brandon Wall has maintained that as proposed, the law is too broad. That’s why he called for a special meeting April 7, where he presented seven amendments he plans to propose at Monday’s regular city council meeting, where a public hearing and vote on the ordinance also is scheduled.

“My intent with a lot of these amendments was, No. 1, to clean up some language and make this more clear,” he said. “The second thing is to be very tough on the businesses that are selling these products in the city.”

Some of that cleaning up of the language comes in the form of adding to the ordinance’s existing outline, and whole new section dealing with businesses that become a public nuisance.

“There’s some benefits to this and there’s some additional penalties and legal avenues that the city could take (against a business) by declaring it a public nuisance,” Wall said. “It gives the city attorney in court a little more emphasis if he was before a judge.”

Wall’s proposed amendment says that anyone storing, providing, selling or distributing “any illicit synthetic drug … is declared a public nuisance.” It also says that in addition to the $500 fine associated with each offense, businesses or individuals also could be subjected to restraining orders, court injunctions or “any manner provided by law for the abatement of such nuisance.”

As for businesses in the city that sell Spice, being banned from doing so isn’t a problem, some shop owners say. In fact, some have already stopped selling synthetic drugs. At a Feb. 24 city council meeting when the ordinance was first brought to the council, a pair of local smoke shop owners testified.

Douglas Rudd, owner of Wild Zone on Yenlo Street, testified that because of the broad nature of the ordinance, other items that are not synthetic drugs could be deemed illegal as well under the new rules.

“I sell items that could be affected by this ordinance,” he said. “I do support passage of the ordinance. What I would ask is that … there is some kind of time for the businesses to comply and to realize, because in my opinion, it is a very broad ordinance that can affect items that are not intended to be affected by the ordinance.

“I own a tobacco store. I also sell a lot of natural organic items … that are not properly labeled in accordance to the ordinance. They are not synthetic in nature, but they do not comply with my interpretation of the ordinance.”

Rich Barns also testified in favor of the ordinance at the Feb. 24 meeting. He also said that the city can legislate what businesses can and can’t do, but that those business owners can’t control what customers do with those products.

“If someone were to buy my product, which I sell lawfully, then use it unlawfully, it doesn’t seem constitutional to ban a whole category of things when you’re not being specific,” he said. “I abhor what substance abuse is doing to our communities and to families in this state.”

At the April 7 meeting, Wall and councilman David Wilson also expressed some concern with the consequences of getting caught with Spice in the city, particularly for young people. If a young adult is cited for what a police officer believes is a synthetic drug, but then prevails in court, that citation still shows up on the state’s CourtView database. A finding of not guilty or a dismissed charge would not be visible on the site’s first page, only that the person was cited for a drug violation.

That can paint a young person with a “scarlet letter” that can follow him for the rest of his life, Wall said.

“In terms of an appeal process, let’s say some kid has a substance similar to Spice — they’re packing some oregano in their backpack because they’re going to go home and cook spaghetti that night, I don’t know — and they get stopped for jaywalking by and officer,” Wilson hypothesized. “Is there an appeal process where they can say, ‘hey, I know this looks like Spice, it smells like Spice, but this is what it really is?’”

While most at the table chuckled at Wilson’s scenario, mayor Verne Rupright said that, “it’s not so farfetched.”

“We have an incredible grade of catnip grown in Alaska,” he continued. “I mean, cats love it. So, say somebody’s got a bindle of that catnip …”

Wilson said he’s concerned that “it takes and act of God to get something off CourtView.”

“More than that, actually,” responded city attorney Richard Payne. “You’re hitting a very good point, and it’s the same problem the city of Anchorage is experiencing.”

While that is a concern, councilwoman Gretchen O’Barr said that sometimes “you have to weigh the greater good opposed to a few things that might be bad.”

After the council members adjourned their work session, they listened to comment from a couple of residents. One, Robert Friesen, said he’s glad the council is considering a Spice ban and that any ordinance needs to include punishment.

“We’re all human, even kids are human. Some of them don’t look like it, but they are,” he said. “We all go through life seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. If there’s not pain, there will never be any change of behavior.”

What: Wasilla City Council meeting

Why: Public hearing on Spice ordinance

When: 6 p.m., Monday

Where: Wasilla City Hall, 290 E. Herning Ave.