Tallahassee, Florida - Florida lawmakers are moving swiftly once again to ban over-the-counter synthetic drugs.
Lawmakers already took action last year to ban synthetic compounds sold as bath salts under such names as "White Rush," "Blue Silk" and "Vanilla Sky." Drug users would snort or inject the powder for a cocaine-like high.
The Legislature made it a felony to make, sell or possess the synthetic drugs, but now new formulas have been developed. Drug makers have slightly changed the molecules to skirt the law.
A House subcommittee passed a bill Monday expanding the list of controlled substances to include these new compounds.
Bill sponsor Rep. Clay Ingram of Pensacola says he was alerted to the problem by school leaders in his district.
"I got calls from superintendents, teachers and deans that were seeing students probably more in a different sort of high than they'd ever seen and acting in a way they had never seen on traditional drugs that they'd seen in the past. It seemed to be a more dangerous behavior. It's a cheaper more readily available drug and so I think that's why I saw the need to do something and do something fast."
Ingram says the state is trying to stay a step ahead of drug makers by trying to predict the possible combinations of compounds used in synthetic drugs. It's hoped that will help prevent future formulas from making it onto the market.
Dave Heller