Obama Approves Law to Ban Synthetic Drugs
Jul 09, 2012
President Obama has signed far-reaching legislation banning chemicals found in dangerous synthetic drugs like 2C-E, “K2,” “Spice,” and “bath salts.” The legislation attacks a U.S. epidemic that was responsible for the death of a Minnesota teenager in 2011. Law enforcement officials in Minnesota and other states have been calling for congressionalaction to fight the epidemic of designer drugs like 2C-E, which is thought to be the drug responsible for the death of Blaine, Minnesota, 19-year-old Trevor Robinson..
"In Minnesota and across the country, we are seeing more and more tragedies where synthetic drugs are taking lives and tearing apart families," said U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a champion of the provisions. Klobuchar cited Robinson's death in advocating for a ban on dangerous chemicals in synthetic drugs like 2C-E, a synthetic hallucinogen. Other chemicals that the new law makes illegal are chemicals found in synthetic marijuana (also called "Spice" or “K2”). Similarly, “bath salts,” synthetic drugs that mimic the effects of cocaine and methamphetamine on the body, are also now illegal.
Minnesota and more than 30 other states have already banned a variety of synthetic drug compounds, but new and different compounds are regularly emerging in a market that is spread across the nation via the Internet. Congress decided that law enforcement would benefit from response on the national level.
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Star Tribune