Synthetic drug charges upheld for Duluth head shop owner
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A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a former Duluth head shop owner for selling millions of dollars worth of synthetic drugs.
A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal synthetic drug law used to convict Jim Carlson, the owner of the store Last Place on Earth, is constitutional.
The judges also upheld Carlson's 17-and-a-half year sentence, and convictions of his former girlfriend and son.
Carlson was found guilty in 2014 of selling synthetic drugs with product names like "bath salts" and "incense" out of his downtown shop.
Similar drugs have been blamed for several deaths nationwide. In Duluth, doctors said synthetics use led to hundreds of emergency room visits.
Carlson's attorney had argued the law used to prosecute Carlson was unconstitutionally vague.
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