I-70 is major drug transportation link

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - A highway patrolman says more and more drugs are being transported across Missouri.

His comments come on the heels of a major drug bust last Wednesday on Interstate 70.

At a traffic stop near the 142-mile marker on I-70 last Wednesday, a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer conducted a K-9 search that revealed 132 pounds of marijuana.

Sergeant Paul Reinsch says I-70 offers a route from coast to coast for drug trafficking.

"I-70 definitely is a pipeline, obviously right through the middle of the country from east to west and drugs of all kinds are traveling up and down our highways everyday," Reinsh said. "I'm not sure exactly where this load was intended to go. He was intending to distribute it and sell it at a certain point, but at this time I don't know where he intended it to go."

Reinsch also says marijuana is not the only drug being moved across the nation through Missouri, but drugs such as cocaine and heroin are also commonly transported using I-70.

Alex Goldman, Missouri Digital News

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Fake pot bill moves to Nixon's desk

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - Missouri's governor is the final step for a bill that bans so-called bath salts and fake pot.

The measure would get two synthetic drugs -- K-3 and bath salts -- off the market.

It passed the House with 90 percent support.

West Plains Republican Ward Franz talks about what bath salts did to one man.

"He didn't show up for work. He didn't show up to pick up his kids," Franz said. "They found him barricaded in his garage because he was hallucinating and hearing voices."

Franz says sellers are getting around the law by labeling bath salts as not for human consumption.

But St. Louis Democrat Mike Colona says the effects of bath salts and K-3 are much different.

"If you talk to law enforcement, there are two different issues. One leads to neurosis, uncontrollable activities. The other puts you to sleep," Colona says.

Colona says the bill would hurt businesses that also sell legal drugs.

It's not the first time state lawmakers have done battle with these drugs. They banned another form of fake pot, called K-2, last year.

The bill's next stop is Gov. Jay Nixon's desk.

Theo Keith, Missouri Digital News

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