Legal loopholes make synthetic marijuana as easy to get as buying a candy bar, according to US Sen. Charles Schumer who urged the federal government Sunday to crack down on the dangerous product.
With names like “K2”, “Spice” and “Skunk,” the cannabis alternative has flooded the drug market because manufacturers are able to use legal ingredients.
“Synthetic marijuana, which is more dangerous than regular marijuana, and unlike regular marijuana is perfectly legal, teenagers can buy this synthetic and dangerous marijuana as easily as they can buy a Kit Kat bar,” Schumer said.
“Reports have shown that synthetic drugs can lead to dangerous, erratic and even deadly behavior. They’re often more dangerous than marijuana. They’re being sold and marketed to young people right here in New York City, Long Island and the northern suburbs.”
Schumer urged the Drug Enforcement Agency to act quickly and add hundreds of chemicals to its list of banned controlled substances. He also pushed for new legislation that would make it easier to crack down on even newer synthetic chemical compounds that are likely to emerge in coming years.
According to Schumer, the US has banned only 20 of the 300 chemical substances used in synthetic drugs, leaving drug makers several steps ahead in what he called a game of “whack-a-mole.”
The result has been an upswing in synthetic drug use and trips to emergency rooms.
In a letter to DEA administrator Michele Leonhart, Schumer said that in the past year, there has been a 220 percent increase in emergency room visits because of synthetic marijuana.
This month, he said, three high school students in Westchester were hospitalized after using synthetic drugs.
“The federal government must do what it can to keep these harmful compounds of the street and out of the hands of our citizens,” Schumer’s letter said.
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