Store owner agrees to largest-ever settlement for selling spice
DENVER - The owner of a Denver tobacco store has agreed to the largest-ever settlement for selling the illegal synthetic marijuana drug known as spice, reports CBS Denver.
Orlando Martinez has agreed to pay $160,000 in a civil case stemming from a 2013 sting in which Colorado state officials purchased spice products from his store, O' Pipes and Tobacco. Martinez was arrested, and officials later seized 1,319 total packages of spice products, testing four of the items for banned cannabinoid compounds.
All four tested positive, according to the Colorado Attorney General's Office.
State officials said some of the spice products contained a specific synthetic compound that caused more than 200 hospitalizations in Colorado in the fall of 2013.
Martinez declined to comment on the settlement to CBS Denver.