Letter to Michele Leonhart, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Prohibiting Sale of New Types of Dangerous Synethetic Drugs
Letter
Dear Administrator Leonhart,
I write to you today to address a pervasive issue that has continued to harm local communities throughout my home state of New York. Despite our efforts, synthetic drugs, extremely dangerous chemical compounds with harmful effects, are still marketed and sold to children and young adults. Working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2012, 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). Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 811, the Attorney General has the authority (which has been delegated to the DEA Administrator) to temporarily place an uncontrolled substance into Schedule I of the CSA if it is deemed to present an imminent hazard to public safety. Congress also expanded this emergency scheduling authority to more quickly ban new combinations that may be used to similar effect, and I am thankful that since that time, the DEA has used this authority over twenty times.
Unfortunately, criminals have continued to create new chemical formulas that have not yet been listed as controlled substances under the CSA. Additionally, while the sale of analogue substances marketed as brand names such as "Spice" or "K2" has been banned in some states, including New York, this has not stopped them from popping up in stores across the country. New York City is particularly emblematic of the increasing frequency of emergency department visits related to synthetic drugs, where there has been a 220 percent increase in the past year. And just this September, three Westchester high school students ended up in the hospital after using synthetic drugs.
With this rapid increase of synthetic drug usage, I ask that the DEA prioritize using your emergency scheduling authority under the Controlled Substances Act to make illegal as many dangerous chemical compounds as possible. The federal government must do what it can to keep these harmful compounds of the street and out of the hands of our citizens.
I thank you for your attention to this important matter, and look forward to working with you to prevent the sale and distribution of these harmful chemicals.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
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