Lincolnshire bans fake pot

Lincolnshire village board members have approved a local version of a state law banning the sale, manufacturing or possession of fake marijuana.

Village Manager Robert Irvin said the local ordinance, in combination with the state law effective since Jan. 1, will provide greater flexibility for enforcement. Village trustees voted 5-0 in favor of the ordinance at a meeting Monday night.

Under the new state law, a wider net has been cast in an effort to prohibit all compounds sold over the counter that often are smoked by users to get the same high as marijuana.

State lawmakers previously tried to ban fake marijuana sold as potpourri and called K2 and “spice,” but manufacturers changed the chemical compounds to make the products legal again.

In Lincolnshire, its local law states the village “has encountered an influx of products being possessed, distributed, sold and consumed within its corporate boundaries, especially at Stevenson High School,” with compounds designed as synthetic alternatives to marijuana.

Police Chief Peter Kinsey said at Monday’s meeting that minors typically are involved in fake marijuana. He supported having a village ordinance on the books complementing the state law.

“This gives us the option, when we deal with these situations, of going on a local ordinance or a state charge,” Kinsey said.

Officials said an advantage of Lincolnshire’s local law is that a case involving a minor suspected of selling or possessing synthetic marijuana could be brought more quickly to a Lake County branch court.

If a minor is prosecuted under state law, officials said, a petition to Lake County juvenile could would be a necessary and lengthier process.

Penalties under Lincolnshire’s law call for a minimum fine of $750 for manufacturing synthetic marijuana and $500 for the sale or delivery of it. Possession or use of the fake weed would bring a minimum $250 fine.

Village Attorney Adam Simon said a local ordinance violation cannot go beyond a Class B misdemeanor, as prescribed by the Illinois criminal code

Chicago and some suburbs enacted local ordinances against synthetic marijuana before the state law kicked in Jan. 1.

Bans: Violating law could net up to $750 fine