PA Senate Moves to Ban New Synthetic Drug

A bill in the Pennsylvania Senate would ban synthetic drugs labeled as “bath salts,” commonly sold in convenience stores and on the Internet.

State Senator Larry Farnese says the drugs produce a high much like cocaine, and it’s caused users to behave violently in several cases.

Farnese says one couple chased their 5-year-old daughter with knives after snorting the white powder, while another man stabbed a sleeping priest.

He says he doesn’t think the state is playing catch-up in terms of banning new, artificial drugs like K2 synthetic marijuana and “bath salts.”

“People will continue to do things to try to find other cheap and oftentimes deadly highs. And that’s the problem. But I think it’s the role of government to act quickly and reasonably, to be mindful of businesses and of economic consequences, but to protect the public,” says Farnese.

The Philadelphia Democrat says these “bath salts” are chemically completely different from bath products like Epsom salts, and his bill won’t prevent the sale of those items.

The City of Scranton joined Florida and Louisiana in banning the chemicals March 30.