Council Gets Tough On Synthetic Drugs

The Kansas City city council plans to get tough on businesses that sell products labeled as "bath salts" or "incense," but designed to have effects similar to marijuana or other street drugs.

Councilman Scott Wagner presented the the plan to the Public Safety and Emergency Services committee on Wednesday.

“If we find that that store is selling that, we have an opportunity to take something away that that store makes a lot of money on, and that, of course, is cigarettes," Wagner explained.

He and other council members hope the power to suspend a store's license to sell cigarettes for 90 days will have an effect similar to that of suspensions of liquor licenses.  Gary Majors of Regulated Industries told the committee the city's power to do that  has eliminated the open sale of synthetic drugs at liquor stores and is a major deterrent to the sale of liquor to minors.

Convenience stores would also face the tobacco license suspensions if they repeatedly sell cigarettes to minors.

The ordinance is on the agenda of the full council Thursday afternoon.