Club X, four people to fight charge they sold potentially lethal mystery substance
A Melbourne sex shop and four people have vowed to contest a charge they sold a potentially lethal psychoactive substance from a CBD shop.
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Sex shop franchise Club X will fight allegations it sold potentially deadly synthetic substances at its Melbourne city store.
It comes as police were forced to withdraw drug trafficking charges, with prosecutors conceding they were unable to determine what the exact substance was.
The raunchy adult shop and four other people were charged with selling a psychoactive substance for three weeks in January last year — just months after the state government introduced sweeping legislation to combat widespread use of the mind-altering drugs.
Two charges of allowing another person to use the CBD store to traffick a drug of dependence were also struck out.
Club X, alongside Dean Williams, 52, Craig Leete, 53, Seyedehsan Haghighi, 35 and Sharnelle Dunn, 41 will all contest one remaining charge of selling a psychoactive substance at a hearing in September.
Lawyers for the accused said the trafficking charges, which were struck out, were “fundamentally flawed”.
The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard police may rely on evidence from officers who had observed or spoken to potential users at “street level” during the committal hearing.
The targeted legislation was introduced after an increase in hospital admissions and a number of deaths linked to the dangerous substances which attempt to mimic the effect of illicit drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy.
Police were previously hamstrung by laws which required them to categorise each specific compound or class of compound as an illegal drug.
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It was hoped the new legislation would close a loophole that allowed those producing the copycat substances to stay one step ahead of authorities by consistently change the chemical make-up.
Those found guilty of producing or selling a psychoactive substance can face up to two years prison and a $38,000 fine, while Club X faces fines of almost $200,000.