City shuts down Weedz Alternatives as health threat

Las Vegas shut down a smoke shop Wednesday evening on Las Vegas Boulevard, saying the business's practice of allowing people to ingest synthetic marijuana on the premises was an immediate public health threat.

Weedz Alternatives, at 628 S. Las Vegas Blvd., "poses an ongoing health risk for this community," Dr. Lawrence Sands, chief health officer of the Southern Nevada Health District, told the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday.

"They need to be stopped immediately," Sands said. "The substance that's contained in this product is untested, is not fit for human consumption."

Two police officers and two employees from the city's business licensing department arrived around 5:30 p.m. and finished securing the store just before 6 p.m., locking the doors and posting signs that no public access was allowed.

An emergency shutdown of a business is allowed by city code and required no council action, City Attorney Brad Jerbic said.

A hearing on revoking Weedz Alternatives' business license was on the council's agenda Wednesday, but was put off for two weeks.

Reports presented to the council showed that five people needed an ambulance and hospitalization after smoking or snorting the synthetic marijuana in the store. Symptoms included vomiting and hallucinations, Jerbic said.

While banned in some places, synthetic marijuana is largely unregulated and widely available. Its ingredients include unspecified herbs, oils and resins that are sprayed with a lab-produced cannabinoid designed to replicate the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Other side effects include heart palpitations and spikes in blood pressure.

The synthetic marijuana is sold as incense, and packages contain some version of the phrase "not for human consumption."

In a September interview with the Review-Journal, though, Weedz owner Steven J. Vogt boasted of having the only "bong bar" in the city -- a place where people could not only purchase the fake weed but smoke it before leaving the store.

That practice is what the City Council focused on Wednesday.

"My position would be to stop this business totally, if that's something that is a possibility," said Councilman Ricki Barlow.

Jerbic cautioned the council not to take action of that sort. A hearing is required to rescind a business license, and Vogt's attorney was new to the case and needed time to research it, he said.

Furthermore, Vogt, 42, was arrested Tuesday on an auto burglary charge and was being held in the Clark County Detention Center.

The business is in Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese's ward. He and the rest of the council voted to delay the hearing for two weeks.

"This is, to me, a hazard for anyone who walks into this store," Reese said.

One employee who was in the store as it was shut down said the closure didn't surprise him.

"I kind of saw it coming," said the young man, a college student who did not want to be identified by name.

His fiancee also used to work at the store, but quit about a month ago because of the stress of working there.

Vogt's behavior had become increasingly erratic, he said, as he dealt with various stresses, including an armed robbery at the store, vandalism, other run-ins with police and an eviction filing.

"He wasn't like this before when I started," the employee said. "He was a great guy. He doesn't look like the same guy any more."

Las Vegas officials used the same emergency shutdown procedure against the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada after investigators said the center's practices may have exposed patients to diseases.