The Float Dog, a Hammond smoking accessory shop, is locally owned and run by Stephen Spell. His most popular product is a strand of synthetic marijuana called “Skyscraper Next Level.” According to Spell, it is made with completely legal chemicals.

Despite the ban Louisiana put into effect in August 2010, the product is still being manufactured and sold to gas stations, convenience stores and head shops statewide. The law made a dozen or more synthetic chemicals, as well as the production and possession of the substance, illegal. There are always going to be loopholes in the system. The people who rely on this business as their way of life have found new, unbanned chemicals to use by making small changes to the formulas.

On March 16, Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office deputies and narcotics agents non-violently raided Spell’s stock of Skyscraper, without a warrant and due process of law, under explicit orders from Tangipahoa Sheriff Daniel Edwards. He later released a statement saying that the seizure was in the best interest for public safety. This was said after a teen boy had died from smoking the product on the day of the raid.

Spell has now filed a civil lawsuit against Sheriff Edwards saying he has broken the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

This is a sticky situation. Yes, what Sheriff Edwards did was unconstitutional. Technically, according to the Fifth Amendment, he did deprive Spell of his own property without due process of law, but in my view Sheriff Edwards was not morally wrong in his actions. The decision he made was in the best interest of the community. These are the kinds of instances that make me proud of our police force.

This product is lethal and should not be legal. It is at least as harmful as other illegal drugs and probably even more harmful than the one it is mimicking. Eventually, it can lead to black outs, extreme paranoia, organ failure and potentially fatal seizures. The chemicals sprayed on the leaves of the incense are comparable to rat and roach poison. A 19 year-old Illinois boy smoked the drug, crashed his car into his house and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The people making and selling this product have no regard for public safety and every intention of making money off  teens wanting a quick and easy high. The bag does specifically say the product is “not for human consumption,” but watch the YouTube video of the raid and listen for when the deputy confronts Spell about how the sale of his product negatively effects everyone in the community.

“It says premier smoke shop out there, what you’re advertising outside, and people come in when they see that, you can’t tell me that people are going to pay $13.75 for, a lack of a better term, a sachet, or an incense or potpourri,”  said the deputy in the video.

Then there is nothing, but a shoulder shrug from Spell. In an interview with WBRZ, Baton Rouge, Spell defends himself saying, “it is not up to me and my cash register to determine what is a controlled and dangerous substance.”

According to Spell, he is just trying to put money back into the economy. Personally, I think there are better ways to put money into the economy.

Sheriff Daniel Edwards and his team, along with concerned parents, young adults and teens know that people don’t buy this stuff to put on their desk and make their room smell better.

Go watch the YouTube video yourself, and make your own choice about the case, because according to the court of law, everyone is innocent until proven guilty.