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Federal investigators have ramped up their attack on synthetic drugs entering Minnesota and western Wisconsin, seizing more than two dozen shipments from South Carolina, Texas and Nevada, as well as several intrastate shipments, the Star Tribune has found.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which conducted the seizures, isn't talking about its investigations, most of which remain active. Jeff Long, a spokesman, said only that it's the mission of the service to keep the mail safe.
Postal inspectors in St. Paul have jurisdiction in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, and their seizures follow laws passed last year in both states that ban certain chemicals commonly found in synthetic marijuana and in stimulants sold as "bath salts" or "plant food."
Synthetic marijuana and chemical analogs for such stimulants as methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA (Ecstasy) have led to a rash of overdoses in recent years. Minnesota banned the sale of these drug analogs as of last July 1. The Legislature passed a bill this session designed to make prosecution easier. Wisconsin passed a similar ban that took effect July 11. In addition, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has classified several chemicals commonly used to mimic psychoactive drugs as controlled substances.
Hoffman man charged
Richard Jacobs, 37, of Hoffman, Minn., appears to be an early target of the new law. According to a federal search warrant filed July 18, Jacobs previously had purchased several packages of synthetic drugs. Jacobs nearly overdosed after snorting bath salts for three days with his girlfriend. That led to criminal drug possession charges in Grant County District Court. He pleaded guilty last week to a gross misdemeanor and was sentenced to a year in jail.
Kent Marshall, his attorney, said Thursday that his client was already in prison on another charge or he would have been inclined to fight the synthetic drug charges on constitutional grounds. Marshall said that when Jacobs ordered the bath salts, they were still legal to possess in Minnesota.
http://www.startribune.com/local/150372765.html
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which conducted the seizures, isn't talking about its investigations, most of which remain active. Jeff Long, a spokesman, said only that it's the mission of the service to keep the mail safe.
Postal inspectors in St. Paul have jurisdiction in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, and their seizures follow laws passed last year in both states that ban certain chemicals commonly found in synthetic marijuana and in stimulants sold as "bath salts" or "plant food."
Synthetic marijuana and chemical analogs for such stimulants as methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA (Ecstasy) have led to a rash of overdoses in recent years. Minnesota banned the sale of these drug analogs as of last July 1. The Legislature passed a bill this session designed to make prosecution easier. Wisconsin passed a similar ban that took effect July 11. In addition, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has classified several chemicals commonly used to mimic psychoactive drugs as controlled substances.
Hoffman man charged
Richard Jacobs, 37, of Hoffman, Minn., appears to be an early target of the new law. According to a federal search warrant filed July 18, Jacobs previously had purchased several packages of synthetic drugs. Jacobs nearly overdosed after snorting bath salts for three days with his girlfriend. That led to criminal drug possession charges in Grant County District Court. He pleaded guilty last week to a gross misdemeanor and was sentenced to a year in jail.
Kent Marshall, his attorney, said Thursday that his client was already in prison on another charge or he would have been inclined to fight the synthetic drug charges on constitutional grounds. Marshall said that when Jacobs ordered the bath salts, they were still legal to possess in Minnesota.
http://www.startribune.com/local/150372765.html
