Designer Drugs Criminalized

Abstract

Manufacturers of so-called designer drugs, sold under names K2, Vanilla Sky, and bath salts, have managed to keep on the right side of U.S. law in recent years. For instance, when several states outlawed a number of synthetic marijuana compounds and recreational stimulants, these items remained legal for sale elsewhere in the U.S. Then, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used its emergency powers to outlaw some of these chemicals temporarily. But chemists at both domestic and offshore enterprises producing these compounds tweaked the molecules to make analogs that were not explicitly illicit. Sales continued at retail stores and through Internet sites, including a number based in China. But now, anyone in the U.S. who concocts, distributes, or possesses any of a host of certain designer drugs is on the wrong side of the law. That’s because last month President Barack Obama signed legislation that illegalizes essentially all synthetic marijuana compounds ...