A local pair was arrested for trafficking synthetic marijuana in the parking lot of the Gantt Dollar General Thursday.

Drug Task Force Agents, working a lead, made contact with Destiny Blair, 19, and Shelton Wilson, 22, in the dollar store parking lot.

When agents made contact with the pair, they found approximately 84 grams of synthetic marijuana, also known as spice.

Agents then went to a home off Lowe Avenue in Andalusia, where they recovered an additional 2.5 pounds of synthetic marijuana as well as 15 grams of methamphetamine.

Synthetic marijuana is a man-made mind-altering chemical that is either sprayed or dried shredded plant material that can be smoked or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes.

These chemicals are called cannabinoids because they are related to chemicals found in the marijuana plant.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says that synthetic cannabinoids are often labeled not for human consumption and are often marketed as safe, legal alternatives to the drug. They are not legal in the state of Alabama. The drugs have been proven to affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana, and their actual effects can be unpredictable and even deadly.

“Synthetic cannabinoids are included in a group of drugs called “new psychoactive substances” (NPS). NPS are unregulated psychoactive (mind-altering) substances that have become newly available on the market and are intended to copy the effects of illegal drugs. Some of these substances may have been around for years but have reentered the market in altered chemical forms or due to renewed popularity,” NIDA’s website says.

Blair and Wilson were arrested and charged with drug trafficking, possession with the intent to deliver methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

They were booked into the Covington County Jail on $656,000 bonds.

Blair was arrested in May for promoting prison contraband after an Covington County Jail officials found a trustee was receiving contraband while he was working off the jail premises.

Blair and another female were captured on surveillance footage allegedly bringing the contraband to the inmate.