Panel forwards synthetic‑drug ordinance to council with 2‑strike business‑license revocation

A city committee voted to forward a proposed ordinance targeting synthetic and novel psychoactive substances to the full city council, adopting committee changes that would make license revocation mandatory after two violations within a rolling 24‑month period and setting a 30‑day delay for enforcement so affected businesses receive notice.

Legal staff told the committee the draft ordinance compiles language from several municipalities and adds substances identified by the county coroner. “The ordinance you have in front of you is a compilation of…with Jim Schreiner,” Miss Landwehr said, explaining the coroner added substances “that basically he knows are being made and used now.” The draft uses broad language including “including but not limited to” and covers novel and semi‑synthetic psychoactive formulations the drafters said change frequently.

Committee members discussed how the ordinance would be enforced and who is selling the products. Several members said the primary retail outlets identified so far are smoke shops, with occasional availability at gas stations; dispensaries were discussed but not confirmed as sellers. Miss Landwehr said enforcement would proceed under the city’s business‑license authority and that the mayor could suspend or revoke licenses in the same manner used for liquor licenses. She noted the ordinance declares sales of the listed substances “a menace to the health, safety, or welfare of the public” to ensure the mayor’s authority to act.

The draft sets a progressive penalty scheme: a discretionary penalty on first offense and mandatory license revocation on a second violation within the chosen time window. Committee members debated whether the second offense should be within 12, 24, or 36 months; the committee settled on two offenses within a rolling 24 months while retaining the word “shall” for the mandatory second‑strike revocation.

Members raised practical enforcement questions: the need for laboratory analysis to confirm substances, whether sellers could evade penalties by changing business ownership or business name, and how to identify which businesses currently stock these products. Miss Landwehr acknowledged testing and formulation changes complicate enforcement and said the ordinance is written to allow subsequent amendments if new substances appear.

The committee voted to forward the ordinance to the city council with the amendments described and to make the ordinance effective 30 days after passage to give businesses notice. The committee recorded the motion as passed.