Synthetic pot taken from stores in Waukesha
WAUKESHA - Police pulled $25,000 worth of synthetic marijuana from store shelves Monday night, impounding a variety of smokable substances made illegal by city ordinance and state law.
Synthetic cannabinoids are found in a variety of products called names like K2, K3, Purple Magic, Barely Legal or Exotic Incense. All of these products and the chemical compounds they contain are illegal in Waukesha.
The ordinance banning the substances was passed by Alderman Paul Ybarra, who said the four stores caught on this raid will be the last ones let off with just a warning.
"Amnesty is done," Ybarra said. "Amnesty was done at 6 o'clock tonight. If this is on the shelves at any of the locations tomorrow, they re gonna be facing a felony."
A patchwork of federal, state and local laws has left some synthetic cannabinoids legal in parts of Wisconsin, but not in Waukesha.
The city ordinance bans all varieties of the substance.
Earlier Monday, two teenagers were taken to a local hospital after becoming ill from smoking a product called Purple Magic.
Police said that incident was a coincidence and not the impetus for this raid, which was weeks in the making.
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