Klobuchar hails new law banning synthetic drugs

President Obama signed into law Monday a food and drug safety bill that includes a ban on nine substances used in the making of synthetic drugs such as 2C-E, Spice, and bath salts.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar was among the authors of the synthetic drug provisions in the wide-ranging bill. The dangers of the drugs hit home for Minnesotans in the spring of 2011, when one teenager died and ten other young people were hospitalized after overdosing at a party in Blaine. That heightened public awareness, but enforcement agencies complained that existing laws were too easily evaded by drug makers. The new law is aimed at that problem. Here’s what Klobuchar had to say when it went to the President.

The White House drug czar offers this primer on what synthetic drugs are and the challenges in combatting them.

The Star Tribune has done some of the most extensive reporting on synthetic drugs and put together this collection that includes the series A Lethal Dose.