NC Marines barred from shops selling spice - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

NC Marines barred from shops selling spice

The crackdown on “spice” continues at East Coast installations, this time for merchants near North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River. Twenty-four establishments have been placed off-limits for Marines, sailors and civilian employees assigned to those bases.

The convenience and tobacco shops were identified as sellers of psychotropic drugs such as “Spice,” a blend of herbs and chemicals that mimic the effects of marijuana and are prohibited for use by Marines.

The off-limits designation is temporary, according to a Camp Lejeune news release issued Monday. The release strongly points out that Marines are prohibited from conducting business of any kind at those outlets.

The crackdown follows Marine Corps Order 5800, published Feb. 1 by Marine Corps Installations East, which directed commanders at seven East Coast bases to identify outlets that sell the synthetic drugs.

As with other off-limits establishments listed by the Lejeune inspector general, visits by troops to the 24 outlets that sell spice could spell trouble.

“Allegations are thoroughly investigated, and if verifiable evidence exists that a Marine or sailor subject to this order violated it by entering or conducting business with any of these establishments, he or she could be prosecuted under the UCMJ or face adverse administrative action as a result of this violation,” Lejeune spokesman Nat Fahy said in an email.

Nash Ali of Nash Market, near the New River shopping center in Jacksonville, says he doesn’t know why he’s on the list because he stopped selling synthetic drugs “a while ago.”

“I don’t sell any of that stuff. I sell milk and soda and beer,” he said, confirming that he received a letter Thursday from Camp Lejeune notifying him that his store was off-limits to Marines.

“I’m going to call them about this. This is a neighborhood store, I only get Marines in here once in a while,” he said.

Local businesses near East Coast bases had been asked in recent months by Marine leaders not to sell the substance to Marines. It is unclear how many stores stopped selling the fake drugs because of the warning.

“We provided ample warning to these establishments last summer,” base commander Col. Dan Lecce said in the news release. “We will not compromise when it comes to the safety and well-being of our troops.”

There is no Corps-wide order explicitly banning spice and there is no test yet that can detect the substance in the body. But it is prohibited under a Navy Department order barring service members from using any substance, legal or illegal, to get high.

Banned shops

Here’s the list. The first 19 are all in Jacksonville.

• Coastal Smoke Shop, 214 Brynn Marr Road.

• Nash Market, 237-4 New River Drive

• Dash-In, 1316 Hargett Street

• Kwik Stop Mart, 311 Old 30 Road.

• CJ’s Quick Mart, 1010 Gum Branch Road.

• Tobacco and More, 211-B Western Blvd.

• Discount Tobacco, 331 G&H Western Blvd.

• Tobacco Leaf, 215-100 Western Blvd.

• One Stop Shop, 501 Corbin St.

• Tobacco Club, 487-B Western Blvd.

• Hip Hop and Hookahs, 311 S. Marine Blvd.

• Speed Mart, 2601 Piney Green Road.

• Tobacco Alley, 106 Hickory Road.

• Belfast Quick Mart, 1500 Piney Green Road.

• Tobacco For Less, 439 Western Blvd.

• Tobacco House Cigarette Center, 1213-C Country Club Road.

• D’s Drive Thru, 226 Wilmington Highway

• Kings Drive Thru, 1796 Gum Branch Road.

• Express Way, 1261 Gum Branch Road.

• D’s Quick Mart, Richlands.

• Reid’s Mart, 461 Hubert Blvd., Hubert.

• Smoker’s post, 1042 N.C. 210, Sneads Ferry.

• Verona Quick Stop, 2894 Verona Loop Road, Verona.

• Moe’s Mart, 2105 Belgrade Swansboro Road, Maysville.