Officials in Johnsonville said that residents are prepared to boycott any stores that sell synthetic drugs — including a new product labeled as “premium glass cleaner.”
Although the product hasn’t been seen around Johnsonville, Police Chief Ron Douglas said residents have said they will not shop at a business that sells illegal, harmful substances to customers.
“We’ve heard about it, but have not seen it yet,” he said. “No store is selling it, but we’re not going through what we went through with the bath salts. Basically, the community will get together and not shop at that store. The only people who will go to that store are people who are buying that stuff, and you can’t make a living off of that.”
Johnsonville, Andrews and other nearby towns developed laws to deal with synthetic drugs.
Douglas said the Johnsonville ordinance covers any synthetic drug, including “glass cleaner” or other synthetic products.
Employees at Georgetown County convenience stores said they have not been approached by vendors trying to sell new types of synthetic drugs.
The products claim not to have ingredients that have been banned by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“I never sold the other stuff,” said an employee at Jack’s Mini Mall in Andrews. “I heard about people getting hurt. We never have carried it.”
“No one asks for it,” said another employee at Randolph Grocery near McClellanville. “We’re in the country.”
Meanwhile, law enforcement officers across South Carolina say they're seeing a resurgence in synthetic drugs.
According to SCNow.com, the products are appearing in stores under new names and with slightly different ingredients.
“Law enforcement agencies said the substances are actually slight variations of the chemical ingredients found in bath salts and said they pose the same serious dangers to potential users.”
Window cleaner, cat litter
“There have been, especially in the Upstate, some new influxes of materials that they're calling other things, window cleaner, cat litter and plant food,” said Cheraw Police Chief Jay Brooks. “It's a continuous process to try to eliminate it and control it,” he said.
Douglas said in Johnsonville, all synthetic drugs are treated the same.
“It would still be illegal in Johnsonville, because it is a synthetic drug,” he said. “We still have some people who are using [bath salts], but they might be getting it from the Conway area.”
SCNow.com contributed to this report
By Kelly Marshall Fuller
kfuller@gtowntimes.com
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