​Federal legislation that would ban possession and sales of chemical compounds found in products such as “K2,” “Spice,” and “bath salts” began moving this week in House and Senate committees. Lawmakers are considering four bills — three in the Senate and one in the House — that would add these synthetic drugs to Schedule I, which is the most restrictive category of drugs that have a “high potential for abuse and no medical value.”

 

On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Health approved legislation by voice vote, and today (Thursday, July 28) the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Judiciary Committee are scheduled to vote on legislation.

 

“Lawmakers are poised to repeat mistakes from the past by creating ineffective laws that will criminalize more people and drive these substances into the illicit market,” said Grant Smith, federal policy coordinator with the Drug Policy Alliance. “History has clearly shown that prohibiting a drug makes it more dangerous, not less.”