(a) It is unlawful for any person to claim or represent that a product that that person is providing, distributing, or selling is a synthetic drug.
(b) To determine if a person is claiming or representing that a product is a synthetic drug, the enforcing officer may consider any of the following evidentiary factors:
(1) The product is not suitable for its marketed use (such as a crystalline or powder product being marketed as “glass cleaner”);
(2) The person providing, distributing, or selling the product does not typically provide, distribute, or sell products that are used for that product’s marketed use (such as a liquor store selling “plant food”);
(3) The product contains a warning label that is not typically present on products that are used for that product’s marketed use (such as “not for human consumption,” “not for purchase by minors,” or “does not contain chemicals banned by Health and Safety Code § 11357.5”);
(4) The product is significantly more expensive than products that are used for that product’s marketed use (e.g., a half of a gram of a substance marketed as “glass cleaner” costing multiple times the price of actual glass cleaner);
(5) The product resembles an illicit street drug (such as cocaine, methamphetamine, or marijuana); or
(6) The product’s name or packaging uses images or slang referencing an illicit street drug (such as “Eight Ballz” or “Green Buddha”).
(c) Merely disclaiming a substance claimed or represented to be a synthetic drug as “not safe for human consumption” will not avoid the application of this Chapter.
(Ord. 4253, passed - -2014)