Senator: New law targets bath salts

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     New York State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican from Merrick, announced this past week that legislation he supported to stop the sale and use of deadly bath salt-type drugs has been signed into law by Governor Cuomo.

Bath salt-type drugs have been linked to several deaths of young people in New York. The new law will further curb the use of bath salts by adding new compounds used to manufacture these drugs to the state’s banned substances list. It classifies the compounds as Schedule I stimulant controlled substances and imposes criminal penalties on those who sell, use and/or possess these drugs. The law makes it a felony to sell the substances to a minor or on school grounds.

     “Bath salt drugs are dangerous and potentially deadly, in some cases leading the user to kill themselves or become violent to others,” Fuschillo said. “They have no business being sold or used in New York state. This new law will help keep dangerous bath salts off the streets and protect people from becoming victims.”

Bath salts are a commonly used term for synthetic stimulant drugs that are similar to methamphetamines. The drugs, which can be smoked, snorted or injected through a needle, can stimulate both the nervous and cardiac systems and can cause heart attacks, seizures, permanent brain damage and severe hallucinations. Reports have shown that users’ behavior on bath salts can sometimes lead them to kill themselves or cause harm to others.

The law builds on a law that the state enacted in 2011, which Fuschillo supported, banning the sale or distribution of any product containing Mephedrone and MDPV, which were marketed at the time for recreational use as bath salts, and classified these stimulants as controlled substances.