VIDALIA — The list of illegal drugs got a bit longer a month ago, but local law enforcement officials aren’t worried about fighting a new battle.

Tracking the recently-banned synthetic cannabinoids isn’t much different than what officers have been doing for years, officials said.

Concordia Parish Sheriff Randy Maxwell said CPSO deputies have been enforcing the new law prohibiting the manufacture or sale of the substance — sometimes packaged as incense and considered by many as fake marijuana — much the same as they have enforced laws against other illegal narcotics in the area.

“We’ve vigorously pursued and arrested those who are involved in illegal drug manufacturing, distribution and possession,” Maxwell said. “This simply adds another illegal drug to the list.”

Maxwell said he realizes the substance has been pulled from many stores already but that does not mean the substance is still not being sold.

“Our deputies know to constantly be on the lookout for this, just like other illegal narcotics,” he said. “The battle against illegal drug activity is never-ending for law enforcement everywhere. People found growing this, selling this on the streets or in convenience stores, or using it will be arrested.”

Ferriday Patrolman John Cowan said the fake pot was something he ran into a lot before the ban.

“I saw a lot of cars with the substance in it,” he said. “It was labeled as an incense, and people were smoking it.”

Cowan said even with the large variety of synthetic cannabinoids, Ferriday Police are still going to be able to crack down on it.

“The chemical makeup for all of them is basically the same,” he said. “Anything resembling it, that is used by people to smoke, rather than what it is intended for, will be suspect.”

Cowan said the substance’s packaging helps law enforcement.

“If they have it in the package from where they got it at, the ingredients are on the bag,” Cowan said. “If it is in a different bag, it looks suspicious anyway.”

Cowan said even with the ban on synthetic cannabinoids, people probably won’t stop attempting to make more varieties of the substance in the future.

“When you make something illegal, it is brought all the way down to its chemical components,” he said. “They can remake the chemical to where it is the basically the same as it was before, but legal.”

Those who want to test the new law beware, as Maxwell said the penalty for being caught with the substance will not be light.

“They’ll face criminal charges just the same as anyone involved in illegal drug activity with any other substance,” Maxwell said.