A narcotics task force on Tuesday raided four Cherokee County head shops and convenience stores, seizing more than 9,000 packages of synthetic marijuana one day after an statewide emergency directive was approved banning the controversial substance.
Agents of the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad conducted the raid following a strategy session with the Georgia Attorney General's office and the GBI, Cherokee Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jay Baker said.
Phil Price, commander of the Cherokee narcotics squad, said, "This ‘outside the box' thinking is the perfect way to address the rapidly evolving industry."
GBI spokesman John Bankhead said the seizures "were the first of many more to come."
"We understand other local agencies in Georgia besides the Cherokee MANS made seizures after they received our information yesterday, but Cherokee MANS was one of the first," Bankhead said.
Monday's ruling by the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy came after authorities said manufacturers altered the molecular structure of the substance -- plant material sprayed with chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana -- to skirt the state's recently enacted law banning its sale.
The directive does not empower law enforcement to arrest merchants selling the product, more commonly known as "bath salts," K2 and Spice, but it does allow them to seize the substance.
Gov. Nathan Deal, in a letter to pharmacy board President Bill Prather, urged its passage. "The dangers associated with these drugs are obvious," Deal wrote.
Last week, GBI Chief Medical Examiner Kris Sperry confirmed that a Fayette County teen died from drowning caused by the use of synthetic pot -- the first time the drug has been officially linked to a death in Georgia.
The Cherokee task force recovered about 6,200 packages of synthetic marijuana from H Y Novelties in Canton, another 2,200 from a Smoke 911 store in Woodstock, and 1,000 more from unidentified stores in Ball Ground and Holly Springs, according to Baker.
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