Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. DENT. I certainly appreciate the support of Mr. Pitts and Mr. Pallone for their leadership on this issue. It's deeply appreciated.

This issue of synthetic or designer drugs was first brought to my attention by a woman, a mother in my district whose son had been abusing legal substitutes for marijuana. These synthetic cannabinoids, as they're referred to, or synthetic marijuana, affect the brain in a manner similar to marijuana, but can actually be even much more harmful.

Synthetic marijuana, or cannabinoids, are just one category of designer drugs. Even more potent substances have properties similar to cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, and other hard street drugs. These substances are marketed as innocent products like bath salts, plant food, incense, and they're sold under brand names familiar to their users, such as K2 Spice, Vanilla Sky, or Ivory Wave. However, these are total misnomers designed to facilitate their legal sale. These drugs have no legitimate purpose, period.

H.R. 1254, the Synthetic Drug Control Act, drafted in consultation with Federal law enforcement, has three principal components:

First, a prohibition of broad structural classes of synthetic marijuana or the cannabinoids;

Two, a prohibition of synthetic stimulants and other designer drugs, such as bath salts, mephedrone, MDPV, C2E, et cetera, several of those;

Third, an expansion of the DEA's existing authority to temporarily ban a new substance from 1 1/2 to 3 years. Under current law, if the DEA and Department of Health and Human Services can prove that a substance is, one, dangerous and, two, lacking legitimate value while it is temporarily banned, the prohibition will become permanent.

Over the past year there's been a sharp increase in the number of new reports detailing horrific stories of individuals high on synthetic drugs. A man in Scranton, Pennsylvania, stabbed a priest, and another jumped out a three-story window, both high on bath salts. Several deaths from West Virginia to Florida to Pennsylvania to Iowa have been attributed to abuse of synthetic drugs.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has introduced a companion bill with provisions very similar to H.R. 1254, named after one of his young constituents who tragically took his own life while high on synthetic marijuana.

A man in my district was arrested this past May for firing a gun out of his window in a university neighborhood. Police charges indicate that he injected himself with bath salts, and he later told police he thought there were people on the roof watching him.

Finally, I was approached by another distraught mother from my district whose son was hospitalized for over 2 weeks after suffering liver failure and other complications after injecting himself with bath salts. These substances pose a substantial risk, both to the physical health of the user as well as to the safety of those around them when these drugs contribute to dangerous, psychotic behavior, suicide, and public endangerment.

The fact that these drugs are legal in many States contributes to the misconception that they are safe. And the use of easily recognizable brand names and logos on the packaging promotes the concept of a consistent product.

Significant variations of potency from one unit to the next have led recurrent users to inadvertently overdose. One of the major difficulties in combating these designer drugs is the ability of the producers to skirt the law with different chemical variations. By modifying the formula in some minor way, producers can generate a new compound which circumvents legal prohibitions but has similar narcotic events. DEA needs enhanced authority to temporarily schedule new variations when they hit the market, and they usually hit Europe first, and then they enter the United States.

A growing number of States, including Pennsylvania, have enacted bans on many forms of synthetic drugs, but Federal action is necessary to prevent these drugs from being obtained by simply crossing State lines or, increasingly, ordering them over the Internet.

I believe over 30 States have passed bans, if my memory serves me correctly. State-by-State differences in which individual substances are controlled and how strongly makes for a confusing legal patchwork, and Federal legislation certainly will facilitate enforcement.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced its support of H.R. 1254 as amended by the House Judiciary Committee in a letter dated September 30, 2011, and I would submit that for the Record.

I also want to point out, too, that the American College of Emergency Physicians, which notes the devastating physical and psychotic effects of these drugs, has also endorsed this bill, and I think that's quite significant as well.

Finally, go to a hospital like Children's Hospital of Philadelphia--they'll tell you they get a case every day with individuals who are suffering from these particular drugs. A year ago at this time, they probably got no calls. And now every day, and that's not just typical in Philadelphia but throughout the country. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

You will also hear some folks here today who might actually argue that medical research will somehow be impeded. Nothing could be further from the truth. This legislation does not in any way impede medical research. I would be happy to get into that at some point.

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Mr. DENT. I do want to address a few of the statements I heard on the floor from my friends from Tennessee and Virginia.

My friend from Tennessee made some comments, but I want to be very clear, these drugs are dangerous, have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, which is why they belong on Schedule I. Schedules II and V are reserved for drugs used in legitimate medical procedures.

So we're talking about Schedule I here, not Schedules II through V. Let me be very clear on that point.

Second, the FDA has stated that the drugs listed in H.R. 1254 have no medical use, and there are no INDs--that is, investigational new drug applications--for these substances pending with the FDA. This is from the FDA. H.R. 1254 will not prevent further research into synthetic drugs. It's simply false to say that it will.

DEA has a routine, well-established procedure in place to facilitate scientific study of Schedule I drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Currently the DEA has licensed nearly 4,000 individuals and other entities, including universities, manufacturers, researchers, and labs to handle Schedule I drugs for scientific and investigational purposes. These are facts.

I also want to point out, my friend from Virginia made some comments about I guess eight compounds having been found in the United States. Actually, dozens of compounds have been found in the United States. Many bath salt chemicals currently are in the United States, but only three synthetic stimulants and five synthetic cannabinoids have been emergency scheduled by the DEA because they have to go chemical by chemical in order to act on this matter. They have to deal with this on a chemical-by-chemical basis.

We need Congress to give the DEA authority to be more effective and get ahead of this problem. We know that these drugs are coming into this country from Europe. That's where they're coming from, these compounds. There are some in Europe right now. Our goal is to get out in front of this before they have a chance to be exported into the U.S.

Another comment I heard about 325 researchers, well, 325 researchers because that's all who have applied to do this type of research. DEA is not in the business of turning researchers away, so I want to be clear on these points.

There's so much more that can be said on this. But again, research will not be impeded in any way. There is a mechanism, there is a process in place to do research on these Schedule I drugs. It's well established. This has nothing to do with the medical marijuana debate. I heard that argued earlier, too. We're talking about synthetic marijuana and synthetic cocaine. This stuff is dangerous. And, in fact, some would argue worse than the real stuff, so let's get to it.

This is about public safety. This is about the health of our constituents. We know what's going on. In fact, somebody pointed out to me today that a store in Washington, D.C., a few blocks from the Capitol, somebody is selling this stuff. My State and over 30 other States have seen this problem. They know what's happening across this country. We need to do something about it. DEA is alarmed by this. Justice is on board. DEA is on board. Let's do something for the good of the American people. Please pass H.R. 1254, the Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2011. It's in the best interest of the American people, and the best interest of our children. We're doing the right thing.

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