The Drug Enforcement Administration said today it will use its emergency authority to ban chemicals used in legal synthetic drugs known as "bath salts", calling the chemicals an "imminent hazard" to the public.
"This imminent action by the DEA demonstrates that there is no tolerance for those who manufacture, distribute, or sell these drugs anywhere in the country, and that those who do will be shut down, arrested, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart said in a statement on the DEA website. "DEA has made it clear we will not hesitate to use our emergency scheduling authority to control these dangerous chemicals that pose a significant and growing threat to our nation."
In June, an ABC News "20/20" investigation found that despite being linked to multiple deaths, "bath salts" have been sold across the country with little to no oversight, sometimes to teens.
The DEA describes the so-called "bath salts", which have nothing in common with products long-used in bathing, as a sort of imitation cocaine or LSD – a substance that while legal, has not been approved by the FDA for human consumption and has been linked to violent, sometimes deadly outbursts by users. Varieties of "bath salts" are sold under different labels in corner stores across the U.S. as well as online and have prompted thousands of calls to Poison Control nationwide.
Read more:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/bath-salts-dea-announces-emergency-ban/story?id=14467134