After a drug raid of a Lubbock smoke shop revealed synthetic marijuana on the premises, calls have been renewed by one city leader to keep illegal drugs out of the community.
Karen Gibson, Lubbock City Councilmember for District 5, said new challenges have risen from legislative changes that came into effect in September, 2015.
“It’s good and bad in that you can’t just walk up to a smoke shop and just buy it. But, now it’s going to be on the street,” Gibson said. “We have the labeling. We have that in place now. And the fines are much, much stronger.”
“The more we can get off the streets, the better,” she said. “I’ve worked really hard to get less and less on the streets and I think the more busts we do, obviously the better it’s going to be.”
Gibson said the effects of synthetic pot can be deadly.
“It can kill you, it can do horrible things to you. Even the first time. It’s extremely addicting. You smoke it one time and you’re addicted,” she said.
University Medical Center EMS official Randy Raedeke said synthetic pot-related calls were down when the legislation first passed and enforcement was up, but calls have increased since then.
“In the last 60 days, the increase has been two-fold,” Raedeke said.
He said first-responders have faced challenges in treating synthetic marijuana patients.
“They get lethargic, out of it for 10 to 15 minutes. They can sometimes be combative. Crews have been assaulted,” he explained.
A longtime supporter of bans on synthetic pot, Gibson has spoken to many individuals whose lives have been impacted by the drug.
“There’s one kid I talked to that he smoked it from the time he was twelve up to the time he was sixteen,” she said. “And [doctors] don’t expect him to live past 30. He told me that himself. What a horrible life, because of synthetic marijuana.”
Raedeke said there was a reason the packaging is generally marked “not for human consumption.”
“This is not a safe drug,” he said.
Gibson challenged the community to educate and be educators for one another.
“We have to, as a community, as leaders. Find a way to educate. Go into schools, go into boys clubs, girls clubs, any of these- anywhere we can get into, and educate these kids, adults, anybody that will listen to us. It will be a constant battle,” she said.