The committee of the Alderman's office met today to go over a proposal to ban the sale of spice in Manchester. There are a few towns that already have a ban like this:
- Tilton
- Wolfeboro
- Franklin
- Keene
- Belmont
These other cities served as inspiration for the committee getting together to discuss the matter. Another inspiration for this meeting was the recent rash of overdoses that happened a short time ago. Over 50 people overdosed on Spice, mainly in Bronstein Park, in a span of just a few days. Police seized a certain brand of spice called Smacked from local businesses and urged them to take the rest off of the shelves.
Most recently there was a sting at SpiderBite on Elm Street. The PD and federal agents came out of the raid with over $25k in spice and cash related to the sale of spice. Many of the packets that they seized from the property were said to have illegal substances in them.
While it is legal to sell and purchase spice currently there are a few stipulations. The packet must contain the ingredients from the manufacturer or else it is illegal to sell. The packets must also be void of any illegal substances or else it is illegal to sell and buy.
The order that the committee is trying to pass will state that it will be against city ordinance to sell, buy, show, or barter spice within the city limits. This will also include bath salts which have not been as prominent in the city as spice but are still an issue. If anyone is found to be in violation of the ordinance it will come with a $500 fine.
Bronstein Park is now restricted due to the overdoses. Anyone who is not a part of the Central High School student body, faculty, or is a parent of a student and is found in Bronstein between 7:30am and 4pm will be arrested for trespassing. This however has not stopped them from moving over to Victory Park a few blocks down and overdosing there. The root of the problem lies with the sale and purchase of the spice, not the park that they OD in.
I agree with the statement that its not the park they OD in that matters. The fact is that this crap is being bought and sold. And the way they are going to handle this is a joke. A $500 fine? Give me a break, that is nothing but a slap on the wrist and go to the corner. If these people are dealing drugs, what is $500? They will pay the fine and go out and do it again. And for the poor souls that are hooked on this crap, they will do what ever it takes to get the money to pay the fine and then go out and get more of the crap. This city and their law makers need to get tough, smarten up and do something about this, and other things happening in this city as well. Manchester used to better than this, now, people are looking for was to get out. Businesses are failing faster than they used to, yes the economy has something to do with that. This city needs to bring downtown back to life, and needs to clean its act up. Where I live used to be not so bad, now, across the street is a field type place, the river runs through as well. We walk our dog down there, we are finding needles, drug paraphernalia, syringes. We have called the police about it, and they tell us, nothing we can do. Sure they can, they can patrol the area, they drive by enough to do it. But why bother? It makes us mad, we used to pick them up and dispose of them, right along with the garbage we find, now, there are so many I won't touch them. Its so sad, its a really nice area. The west side. But like the rest of the city, its being ignored. Just my opinion.
ReplyDelete