The sale of synthetic drugs known as bath salts and spice is now illegal in Yavapai County.

Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Trebesch issued a temporary restraining order Aug. 9 banning synthetic dangerous drugs from being sold by 12 specifically named retailers in the county.

The emergency injunction designates synthetic drug sales as a “public nuisance” and went into effect immediately.

Brought by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, the defendants in the complaint include 12 retailers: Jeanna Napoleon of Hawaiian Honey, Cottonwood; Steven Ogden of Pipe Dreamz, Cottonwood; Yavapai County Supervisor District 2 candidate Wes Lance of Wes Lance Trading Co., in Camp Verde; Eyup Ozaltin, who runs a mobile business known as Mike’s Connection, three more retailers in Prescott and five in Prescott Valley. Property owners of the businesses were also named as defendants in the complaint.

The Arizona Legislature banned the original drug concoctions of spice and bath salts in 2011 and 2012, but because the drugs are synthetic, manufacturers modified the compounds to circumvent the law.

According to Polk, the temporary restraining order forbids the named retailers from selling all analogues of the synthetics.

For the full story, see the Friday, Aug. 24, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.