Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Staff report
BOARDMAN
Hours after Ohio’s governor signed a ban on synthetic marijuana into law, Boardman police and firefighters treated a woman who was unconscious after smoking the substance.
Boardman safety officials responded late Friday night to a residence on Cook Avenue where a 20-year-old woman had vomited on herself and was unresponsive, according to reports.
Police said the woman’s two friends said she “got sick after smoking a joint of the type of legalized marijuana that’s sold over-the-counter” and that they purchased it from a gas station on state Route 170.
All three said they smoked the substance and said the woman complained of feeling sick within 15 minutes, reports state. The woman was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman.
On Friday, Gov. John Kasich signed a law placing synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as K2 or Spice, on the list of Schedule I controlled substances. The law, which goes into effect in 90 days, also states that six synthetic derivatives of cathinone found in bath salts also would be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance.
The statewide ban comes seven months after the Drug Enforcement Administration placed an emergency control on five chemicals found in synthetic marijuana, effectively making these chemicals or products containing them illegal in the U.S. for at least one year.