Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office announced he has obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) against three tobacco stores to stop them from selling synthetic marijuana. The move by the state’s attorney general was made in conjunction with the City of Corpus Christi Police Department.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) used the Texas Deceptive Trade Practice Act to obtain the TRO. Investigators from the OAG and the Corpus Christi Narcotic Vice Investigation Division (NVID) obtained search and arrest warrants for the owners of Tobacco Junction #1, Tobacco Junction #2, and Kassi Business, Inc., according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by the OAG. Upon execution of the warrants, law enforcement officers seized the more than 400 packets of synthetic marijuana shown the photo above. Two handguns and $20,000 in cash were also seized during the raid.
The OAG was successful in obtaining the TRO after filing a lawsuit naming the following defendants:
- Aarshiya Memon
- Abdul Shakir Memon, also known as Shakir Memon;
- Kassi Business, Inc doing business as;
- Tobacco Junction #1 and the real property known as 4346 Ayers St., Corpus Christi, Texas
- Tobacco Junction #2 and the real property known as 9858 Leopard St. Corpus Christi, Texas
The OAG stated the synthetic marijuana is highly addictive and has dangerous side effects. Those side effects include: side effects of paralysis, brain damage, disorientation, and death. Texas youth have reportedly been affected by all of these side affects.
The packaging of the synthetic marijuana sold at the stores contained no ingredient labels or warning levels indicating the possible health hazards.
Breitbart Texas reported as far back as two years ago about the impact of these synthetic drugs on Texas youth when 30 people in the Dallas area were admitted to a local hospital after allegedly receiving an overdose of the K2 synthetic marijuana. At about that same time, fifteen people were admitted to Austin area hospitals for similar K2 overdose reactions.
Court documents from the lawsuit and TRO are attached below.
Dr. James E’tienne, an emergency physician at Baylor University Medical Center, told Dallas media outlet WFAA-TV at that time, “Several of [the patients] came in with similar symptoms of psychosis, altered mental status, abnormal behavior–ranged from very sedated to an agitated state.” Later that year, Texas State Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) introduced a bill to prohibit the sale and use of these synthetic drugs. While that bill did not pass, State Senator Joan Huffman’s (R-Houston) SB172 was passed by both houses and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott. The new law became effective on September 1, 2015.
In January 2015, Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz reported that an Edinburg police officer resigned after being arrested for selling another brand of synthetic marijuana known as Spice.
Bob Price serves as senior political news contributor and is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
20160630 Injunction Pop Stamped Filed