Campton Hills bans synthetic pot, other substances

Campton Hills has joined other communities that have banned the sale, consumption and possession of synthetic marijuana and other substances designed to mimic the effects of illegal drugs.

Trustees this week unanimously voted to ban synthetic pot and a host of other substances effective immediately.

“It includes a whole host of stuff. It’s not just (synthetic) cannabis. It’s stimulants, hallucinogens, PCP,” Campton Hills Police Chief Dan Hoffman said Thursday. “This is more proactive on the village’s part.”

There were no businesses, such as tobacco shops or gas stations, selling the now illegal drugs in town, but Hoffman said his officers have gone on numerous calls where a subject had tried some of the synthetic product and was not doing well.

“We’ve had kids that have ingested the stuff that we’ve gone on calls (to help) and there’s no prohibition against it,” he said, noting one juvenile had to be taken to a hospital because “he was out and convulsing.”

Under the village law, offenders can be punished with a fine between $100 and $750.

Other surrounding communities, such as Sugar Grove, Batavia, North Aurora and Aurora, have similar bans. South Elgin will consider one later this month.

The push came in part after the June 14 death of Max Dobner, who crashed is car into a house in North Aurora and died. Before the crash, the 19-year-old Max called his older brother, told him he’d smoked some “legal stuff” he bought in Aurora and was having a panic attack.

“(Max) did not do drugs. They just so happened to go to the mall and said it must be safe because it’s legal,” his mom, Karen Dobner told the Daily Herald last month. “People need to talk to their kids and explain it’s not a glass of wine type thing. It’s not marijuana, it’s like LSD, PCP, heroin.”

On Jan. 1, a state law will take effect banning synthetic pot.