Police: Batavia Man Charged With Possession, Had Fake Weed

A 25-year-old Batavia man is headed to court after an incident on Geneva's west side.

Geneva police arrested and charged Todd Duncan of Batavia with possession of drug paraphernalia. The incident occurred at about 12:40 a.m. June 23 in a store parking lot on the 1500 block of South Randall Road, according to a police report.

The complaint with the 16th Circuit Court said Duncan knowingly possessed a one-hitter smoking pipe "with intent to inhale synthetic cannabis into his body." Duncan has a court date of July 10 at the Kane County Branch Court, 530 S. Randall Road, St. Charles.

Synthetic marijuana, sold as incense or potpourri, was made widely available in gas stations, conveniences stores and tobacco stores in the Chicago suburbs, . The products have since been banned.

 the sale, use and possession of artificial drugs in November.  in January, after a statewide synthetic-drug law went into effect on Jan. 1.

The issue of synthetic-drug use gained national attention after a took the life of 19-year-old Max Dobner of Aurora. Karen Dobner, Max's mom, founded To The Maximus! Foundation to help on the dangers of synthetic drugs.

 remembered the one-year-anniversary of Dobner's death and renewed the fight against artificial-drug use.

Patch reports on law enforcement activity in the Tri-Cities, using information provided by official agencies. Persons charged with a crime, or issued a citation for violation of a local ordinance, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If you or a family member are charged with a crime or cited for a violation, and the charge or citation is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify Geneva editor Rick Nagel at rickn@patch.com and we will do follow-up reporting on the case.