Permanent Ban on Sale of Mislabeled Synthetic Drugs Goes into Effect

Owner Of Village Sensations To Pay $15,000 For Violating State Labeling Laws

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Tuesday, August 14 that a judge has signed a consent order and judgment demanding mislabeled or unlabeled products, including synthetic marijuana and other intoxicants, be permanently removed from the store shelves of Village Sensations in Nanuet. In addition to the removal of these harmful products, Smoken LLC, doing business as Village Sensations, must also pay a $13,000 penalty and $2,000 in costs.

As part of Schneiderman’s undercover investigation, agents went into Village Sensations and purchased items including two types of Kratom products, nitrous oxide canisters and Mollys Mosquito Caps, which according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, is an extremely dangerous substance. 

“The proliferation of synthetic drugs has become a crisis in Rockland County, New York State and across the country. The judge’s order proves that, by taking a creative approach in using the state’s existing labeling laws, we can get swift results to remove dangerous synthetic drugs off store shelves and hold sellers accountable for breaking the law,” said Schneiderman. “We will continue to use every tool in our arsenal to combat the growing and dangerous synthetic drug epidemic.”

The order and judgment, which permanently bans the sale of any synthetic drugs or intoxicants, was signed Monday by the Honorable William J. Giacomo, Supreme Court, Westchester County. The order comes after Schneiderman’s office conducted an undercover investigation into head shops across the state. The investigation revealed that head shop retailers were selling designer drugs, including commonly known synthetics such as “bath salts” and “synthetic marijuana.” Undercover investigators statewide also discovered head shop employees were promoting these dangerous synthetic drugs and giving tutorials on how to prepare and ingest them.

Under New York State’s labeling law, the packaging of consumer commodities must, at a minimum, identify the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor, the common product name, the net quantity of contents, and the net quantity of servings, uses or applications represented to be present with appropriate directions and warnings for customary use.

On July 10, Schneiderman filed 12 lawsuits against 16 head shop locations, including Village Sensations in Nanuet. Within 36 hours of filing the lawsuits, the Attorney General’s office obtained Temporary Restraining Orders from all 12 judges effectively removing the mislabeled products from the shelves. Monday’s order permanently bans the retailer from selling synthetic drugs.

Additionally, on August 1, he filed a new lawsuit against Tebb’s Head Shops for the sale of bath salts and synthetic drugs in violation of the state’s labeling laws. Schneiderman sued John Tebbetts, III of Rome, NY, who owns and operates a chain of eight head shops located throughout Central and Northern New York, for violating the state’s labeling laws by selling designer drugs.

Although Federal and State authorities have attempted to outlaw certain chemicals and their analogs and to remove these items from commerce, their efforts continue to fall short as the chemists and producers providing the products for head shops simply alter formulas and stay ahead of the legislation.

The Attorney General’s lawsuits also pursue retailers for the illegal sale of nitrous oxide to the public, a specific violation of the State Public Health Law. Commonly known as “Whip Its,” nitrous oxide has been linked to several deaths by asphyxiation and other adverse health effects. The gas is typically used by youths who see it as an easy “high.”

In addition to Village Sensations, judges issued temporary orders removing synthetic drugs from the following retailers sued by Schneiderman:
• Pavilion International in Buffalo and Commack (Next court date – August 31)
• Twisted Headz in Syracuse (Next court date – September 19)
• Trip on the Wild Side II in Watertown (Next court date – August 23)
• Rolling Fire Glassworks in Endicott (Next court date – August 17)
• Goodfellas Alternative Smoke Shop in Utica (Store is no longer operating)
• 20 Below/ This and That in Plattsburgh (Next court date – August 23)
• Shining Star Enterprises in Albany (Next court date – August 27)
• Giggles in Poughkeepsie (Next court date – August 15)
• East Coast Psychedelics in Oceanside and Commack (Next court  date – August 16)
• Tebb’s Head Shops (eight locations) in Central and Northern NY (Next court date – August 23)
• Daze Smoke Shop in Baldwin (Permanent order and judgment banning sales issued July 31)
• Look Ah Hookah in Rochester (Permanent order and judgment banning sales issued July 26)
 
This case is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Sandra Giorno-Tocco under the supervision of Assistant Attorneys General In-Charge Deanna Nelson and Gary Brown, along with Assistant Attorney General Judith Malkin, under the overall supervision of Executive Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs Martin J. Mack.

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