The Sweetwater Union High School District board was scheduled to meet today to discuss banning students from using synthetic drugs that are disguised as incense but mimic the highs of cocaine and marijuana when smoked.
Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed legislation banning the sale of synthetic drugs in California. However, there is no legislation banning their use or possession.
The school district and the Chula Vista City Council have been working for months to ban synthetic drug use in Chula Vista. The movement began earlier this year after an Olympian High School student smoked so-called "spice'' and went into cardiac arrest on graduation day. He survived but missed out on the commencement ceremony.
"Spice and products like it are legally marketed to all age groups as natural incense,'' said Chula Vista Council Member Steve Castaneda. "They think if they put `not for human consumption' on the label, they've eliminated their social responsibility to protect consumers from this menace.''
Spice contains chemicals that mimic THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, but it has been found to be lethal, Castaneda said.
In addition to spice, authorities are targeting so-called bath salts that contain Mephedrone and methylenedioxyprovalerone, which produces a high similar to cocaine.
