VILLAGE COUNCIL CONSIDERS BANNING PAIN CLINICS & SYNTHETIC THCs

New Boston Village Council is considering banning pain clinics and synthetic THCs (and other similar products) from within the village limits.

Village Administrator Steve Hamilton presented research from other communities at our January 19 meeting detailing "Fake Marijuana" users showing up in emergency rooms with racing heart beats, extreme anxiety, and halluncinations. The substance is called K2 and is a synthetic form of marijuana. K2 is often marketed as incense and sold in packets of herbs laced with synthetic marijuana at "head shops," gas stations, convenience stores and on-line for about $30 to $40 per three-gram bag.

K2 is legal in many states including Ohio although legislation is being proposed to ban these substances.

The Village Solicitor has been asked by council to explore the legality of banning pain clinics and synthetic THCs and similar products from the village limits. What we want to do is be proactive and try to stop a problem in the village before it begins. Pain clinics throughout the area have been closing down and the feeling is these people are going to start looking for alternatives and especially those alternatives that are easy (and legal) to obtain. We do not want those alternatives to be found in our village.

My feeling is that we will most likely adopt a moratorium on pain clinics similar to the one Portsmouth City Council adopted which in effect instituted a 180-day moratorium on the issuance of any permit, license and/or authority to establish any pain clinic, pain management clinic or pain management center in New Boston. Rather than 180 days, I will support a year-long moratorium if legally possible.

Within a year, our village staff, public agencies and departments throughout the state, and the state legislature will be able to further review regulatory options, rules and streamline ordinances for these clinics.

Mike Payton
01-20-11