Schumer Urges Feds to Prohibit Sale of New Types of Dangerous Synethetic Drugs

Press Release

Today, at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer urged the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to add new synthetic drug chemical combinations that have emerged over the past couple of years to its list of banned controlled substances. Schumer said that despite efforts to limit synthetic drugs, synthetic marijuana and other hazardous drug-like products are still being sold online and on store shelves. Schumer said these synthetic drugs are making kids sick, citing a recent incident at a Westchester High School where three kids ended up going to the hospital after smoking synthetic marijuana and other examples across the state and country. These drugs can lead to seizures, hallucinations, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and panic attacks, as well as dangerous and erratic behavior, which is why Schumer sponsored and passed a bill in 2012 that enhanced the DEA's enforcement power to ban many forms of these chemicals. Schumer said that the DEA currently has identified around 300 unique synthetic drug chemicals, but they have not yet added the majority of them to their list of controlled substances. Schumer urged the DEA to add these chemicals to their controlled substances list quickly, as the problem is re-emerging in Westchester and throughout the country. Schumer also pushed a bill he has co-sponsored that will help crack down on new synthetic chemical compounds that are likely to emerge in coming years, which is critical to combating the growing threat posed by these dangerous drugs.

"Despite efforts to crack down on synthetic drugs, this recent episode at a Westchester high school shows that these horrible chemical compounds are far from being in the rear-view mirror," said Schumer. "Statistics show that synthetic drug use is on an upswing, and that is largely because synthetic drug makers are skirting around restrictions that have been put in place by developing new, dangerous chemical compounds that are not yet regulated. As a result, more and more kids are ending up in the emergency room, and it is time for federal law to catch up."

Schumer continued, "I helped pass legislation in 2012 that gave the DEA enhanced authority to ban new synthetic drugs, but they are currently researching about 300 different chemicals to decide whether they should be added to the controlled substances list. For the sake of Westchester kids and families, we cannot afford to wait any longer. That is why I am urging the DEA to quickly ban these chemicals, and any substances similar in nature to those that are already banned, so that we can stem the tide of synthetic drug use that is rising again."

Synthetic drugs are a toxic combination of chemicals made to mimic 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. Schumer explained that these drugs are very powerful and often come with severe side effects because they are powerful chemicals that are not tested for safety. These drugs are often made to seem inviting and harmless -- sold under names like "plant good," "incense," "spice," etc. -- but in actuality they are dangerous chemical concoctions, and this false advertising lures users in. According to the Congressional Research Service, the effects of synthetic drugs ranges from nausea to drug-induced psychosis, making the harmful nature of the drugs unpredictable and making them unsafe for human consumption.

Schumer explained that, between the years 2009 and 2012, synthetic drug abuse was on the rise. As a result, Schumer helped to pass the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 that banned many forms of these chemicals and enhanced DEA authority to ban new ones that emerge. As part of the legislation, Congress used its legislative authority to place over 20 chemical compounds that had been used in synthetic marijuana and other synthetic drugs into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the classification for the most dangerous drugs. The legislation gave DEA enhanced authority to temporarily place uncontrolled substances that pose an imminent hazard to public safety, like these synthetic chemicals, into Schedule I of the CSA.

After passing the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act, synthetic drug usage declined, however, according to data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, synthetic drug use is back on the rise again in 2014, with human exposures this year projected to far outpace the number of exposures in 2013. Schumer said that this startling increase, that is taking place despite the federal crack-down, can largely be attributed to synthetic drug retailers and makers who are now developing synthetic drugs with new chemical compounds that are not currently on the DEA's controlled substance list. Schumer said the DEA is currently investigating approximately 300 of these compounds, which have been found in synthetic drugs across the country, but the DEA has yet to add the majority of them to the list of controlled substances. Therefore, given the recent incident in Westchester and the rise in synthetic drug usage across the country, Schumer is calling on the DEA to act quickly in banning more of the nearly 300 dangerous chemical compounds on its list that are used to make synthetic drugs before the problem becomes more rampant. Schumer said that his 2012 legislation enhanced the DEA's authority to ban these chemicals and they must act quicker to stem this tide of new cases.

Schumer also said that even though New York State issued a public health regulation making it illegal to manufacture, distribute, sell or offer to sell synthetic cannabinoids or any compound that has a chemical structure that is substantially similar to psychoactive chemicals, teens and young people can just as easily purchase synthetic drugs out of state or on the Internet with little to no consequence. With this rapid increase, and enhanced availability, in synthetic drug usage, Schumer is asking that the DEA to prioritize using its emergency scheduling authority under the Controlled Substances Act to make illegal as many dangerous chemical compounds as possible. Schumer said that the federal government must do what it can to keep these harmful compounds off the street and out of the hands of young people.

Schumer also pushed for the passage of the Protecting Our Youth from Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act of 2013. This bill was introduced in July of 2013, with Schumer as an original co-sponsor, and is designed to further combat synthetic drugs. Schumer explained that this legislation, authored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), would make it illegal to import controlled substance analogues--or alternative hazardous synthetic drugs -- for human consumption and establish an inter-agency committee of scientists and the DEA responsible for the establishment and maintenance of an administrative list of controlled substance analogues. Schumer said that synthetic drug makers will continue to try to produce chemical compounds that skirt around federal law, and as a result, legislation like this is needed to provide the DEA with more authority to prevent new synthetics that are bound to crop up in the years to come.

Schumer was joined by Richard Love, Chief of Police for the Village of Pleasantville, where the most recent case of students being hospitalized after using synthetic drugs took place; White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong; and Dr. Ivan Miller, Director of the Emergency Department at Westchester Medical Center.

"This type of drug can be very dangerous," said Dr. Ivan Miller, Director of the Emergency Department at Westchester Medical Center. "It's said to cause a kind of an agitated delirium, sometimes marked with hallucinations, seizures, rapid heartbeat, muscle tremors and other physical effects. However, in the past we've also seen patients in profound coma, including a few that have required life support for a period of time." Dr. Miller added, "It's important to note that the reason we see such a variety of effects is because we don't know exactly what's in it. There are many of these products out there and each one may contain a different combination and quantity of unknown ingredients. So, really, the best thing you can do is stay away from it."

Schumer's push to ban these new synthetic drug compounds comes in light of an incident just this month where six Pleasantville High School students were sickened and three were rushed to the hospital after smoking a synthetic marijuana called "spice." Schumer also noted that over the course of four days this summer 15 New York City residents were hospitalized following synthetic marijuana use, which led to the city's Department of Health issuing a warning to stay away from synthetic drug products.

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