Alpha Center warns council about 'gas station' drugs; Kershaw moves on retail and zoning restrictions
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Summary
Alpha Center presenters told Kershaw County Council that vape shops and gas stations are selling high‑potency nicotine vapes and a range of non‑FDA substances marketed to youth; council heard the presentation and moved forward with first reading of an ordinance prohibiting sale of nitrous oxide and kratom to minors.
At the Jan. 13 Kershaw County Council meeting, representatives from the Alpha Center gave a quarterly update and an educational briefing on emerging retail drugs — products the presenters described as being sold casually in gas stations and vape shops and marketed in ways that can attract youth.
Leanna Adams, coalition director for the Alpha Center, told the council that many retail products are packaged and marketed as "dietary supplements, herbal remedies and legal highs" and that chemical changes can push products into legal gray areas. She described categories including plant‑based products (for example, kratom and proprietary mushroom blends), synthetic hemp‑derived THC products (gummies, vapes, oils) and unregulated pharmaceuticals. "Vape shops and gas stations are not only selling high concentration nicotine vapes with marketing tactics like flavors, brightly colored packaging, to attract our youth," Adams said.
Prevention specialist Bethany Hardaway cited the South Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey and said roughly half of reported youth tobacco purchases came from traditional retail outlets, including 10% from gas stations and 26% from vape shops. She urged guardrails on access: zoning controls on clustering and conditional‑use review, plus point‑of‑sale display and labeling rules.
Following the presentation, council took a related procedural step: a first reading of an ordinance (10c) to prohibit the sale and distribution of nitrous oxide and kratom to minors in Kershaw County and to establish retail display and labeling requirements with enforcement provisions. Staff noted the county will review state preemption questions; the county attorney said he would "triple and quadruple check" the ordinance language. The first reading passed unanimously.
Council members praised Alpha Center's outreach, discussed public education (including offering the presentation free to faith‑based groups) and asked staff to help make presentation materials widely available.