Kudos to our city and state leaders, not to mention law enforcement, who are going after synthetic drugs.

Over the past few weeks, city of Brewton officials said they were considering an ordinance to ban the sale of fake marijuana. Then state Sen. Marc Keahey said he would sponsor legislation to do the same thing. And on Friday, Gov. Robert Bentley signed an executive order banning the sale of the synthetic drugs.

These substances come in shiny packages with exciting names — and can be sold just about anywhere, enticing even young children to pick them up.

And if you think that just because they are fake they aren’t potent, think again. Just last week a Florida man, high on fake pot, apparently threatened his neighbor while he was naked and trying to enter her house. She shot and killed him to defend herself, police said.

The tricky thing with the companies that make these synthetic drugs is that when states ban them, the legislation often lists the complicated chemical makeup of the substances. So the companies simply change a few ingredients and sell the new drugs legally.

Our law enforcement has a hard enough time with the real drugs. We’re glad that so many people are joining together to help keep the fake ones off the streets, too.