South Bend is cracking down on synthetic drugs in the community since the state now considers the use or sale of synthetic substances a felony.
The South Bend Common Council started an initiative called “Not In Our Community.” It’s aimed specifically at stopping businesses around the City from selling synthetic cannabinoids.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter says synthetic drugs are especially dangerous because they can be laced with chemicals and poison.
“We are going to vigorously go after these cases. Do I mean I want them to go to prison? No I don’t want them to go to prison. I want them to stop doing it.”
Cotter says there were more than 1,200 synthetic weed related visits to South Bend’s Memorial Hospital emergency room in 2017.
Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16
If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donating at: https://wvpe.thankyou4caring.org/