Klobuchar, Grassley, Schumer Urge Passage of Bipartisan Synthetic Drug Bills

Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, along with Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), today urged the passage of a bipartisan package of bills that would ban dangerous synthetic drugs. In a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate with Senators Grassley and Schumer, Klobuchar called on all of her colleagues to immediately clear the way for the package of bills to be passed. Klobuchar's bill would ban the harmful drug 2C-E, which led to the death of a Minnesota teenager and hospitalized several others. Klobuchar has also cosponsored two additional bills banning harmful chemicals commonly found in bath salts and synthetic marijuana.

"These new designer drugs are taking lives and tearing apart families in Minnesota and across the country, and yet many of these dangerous substances can still be purchased legally because the Senate has been prevented from moving forward with this legislation. That's simply unacceptable," Klobuchar said."We must pass this legislation now to give law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on synthetic drugs before they put more lives in danger."

Klobuchar, Grassley, and Schumer have led the effort in the U.S. Senate to ban harmful chemicals in synthetic drugs that have taken lives and injured many others. Klobuchar's legislation, the Combating Designer Drugs Act of 2011, bans the substance known as 2C-E, a synthetic hallucinogen, and eight other similar substances. Klobuchar introduced the legislation this past March after a Minnesota teenager died and ten others were hospitalized due to an overdose of 2C-E.

In September of last year, Klobuchar hosted a roundtable on synthetic drugs with U.S. Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske and Minnesota law enforcement leaders. The discussion focused on efforts to curb the sale and use of dangerous synthetic drugs and highlighted how federal, state, and local leaders can work together to solve the problem. The following week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced its decision to ban three chemicals commonly found in synthetic drugs known as bath salts.

Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which has jurisdiction over issues relating to drug control policy, and she has been a leader in strengthening drug safety standards to protect consumers.

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