Norton and Colleagues to Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Combat Synthetic Drugs at Press Conference, Friday Morning
Statement
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will speak at a bipartisan press conference with Congressman Charlie Dent (R-PA), Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT) and Congressman David Jolly (R-FL) to introduce the Synthetic Drug Control Act, authored by Congressman Dent, to combat the growing proliferation of synthetic/designer drugs today, Friday, September 18, 2015, at the House Triangle (SE corner of Capitol), from 10:00 a.m. -- 10:45 a.m. Commander Robin Hoey of the Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) Narcotics and Special Investigations Division will be in attendance and available to answers questions. The bill would strengthen current law -- the Federal Analogue Act -- to facilitate the prosecution of synthetic drug manufacturers and distributors by treating the drugs as those chemically similar to drugs listed as Schedule I and II, Controlled Substance Act drugs. The bill also adds a list of known synthetic drugs identified by the DEA into Schedule I. This is the second bill Norton has cosponsored this year as part of her efforts to address a spike in synthetic drug use in the District of Columbia. The other bill, the SALTS Act, closed a loophole that effectively has provided drug manufacturers and distributors with protection from prosecution if they label the drug "not intended for human consumption."
"Together with my colleagues Representatives Dent, Himes and Jolly, we are trying to help federal and local law enforcement go after elusive synthetic drug manufacturers and distributors who evade federal law by continually making small chemical changes to their dangerous drugs," Norton said. "The District of Columbia in particular has seen an alarming rise in synthetic drug use, resulting in hundreds of overdoses and putting an immense strain on our emergency health services. We need to update federal drug laws to ensure no manufacturer can profit from distributing dangerous synthetic drugs."
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