U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn, joined with South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham and California Democrat Diane Feinstein Thursday to introduce new legislation to combat synthetic drugs. The bill would make it easier to prosecute the sale and distribution of new synthetic drugs that are "analogues" – or substantially similar to current illegal drugs. The bipartisan initiative comes a year after Klobuchar provisions outlawing harmful synthetic substances such as 2C-E, which led to the death of a Minnesota teenager, were passed into law as part of a larger food and drug safety package. Current law makes it difficult to prosecute new synthetic drugs as analogues because they are often labeled "not intended for human consumption," that is, not marketed for human consumption despite their well-known use as recreational drugs. Klobuchar's legislation would make it easier to prove that synthetic drugs are intended for human consumption, and thus easier to prosecute.
