Synthetic Marijuana to be Targeted Again

A top Pennsylvania House Democrat says she will take another stab at banning synthetic marijuana. Lehigh County representative Jennifer Mann's bill passed the House on a near-unanimous vote this year, but the Senate never voted on it. She says she will start the process again in the new year when the General Assembly gavels into session. Mann says teenagers are getting sick from the synthetic weed. “The scary thing to me is that young people feel this is a safe alternative to smoking marijuana. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's safe. The law just hasn't caught up to it yet,” says Mann. The product is sold as incense, under several brand names. The most popular is K2. Mann says she does not believe people are buying the product to make their homes smell nice, “Those who sell it tell you that, well it's ok because we're telling you not to smoke it. But I don't know who would pay 60, 80, 100 dollars for small packet - something smaller than a t-bag -- for the purpose of burning it, and the smell it's going to give. Let's be real.” Mann says it's caused a lot of emergency room trips for Pennsylvania teenagers.