NY Sets New Penalties in 'Bath Salts' Crackdown - Wall Street Journal (blog)

By Alison Fox

New York state has increased the penalties for selling synthetic drugs known as “bath salts,” making it a crime to sell the substances and giving the Department of Health new powers to close retail shops that are repeat offenders, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

The new regulations would expand the list of banned substances used to make the drugs and give police and district attorneys the ability to pursue and prosecute offenders under state law. Establishments that sell the drugs face up to 15 days in jail and, or a fine of up to $500. New civil penalties will include a fine of up to $2,000, Cuomo said at a Manhattan news conference.

The drugs are made from chemicals that are similar to illicit substances but modified slightly.They are often marketed as a form of “legal marijuana,” authorities said, and are known as bath salts because they resemble Epsom salts.

The drugs are commonly purchased online, in convenience stores and smoke shops, the governor said, and have names such as White Lightening and Vanilla Sky. Cuomo compared their effects to cocaine and amphetamines, including hallucinations and increased heart rates.

“This is poison, these are illegal drugs,” Cuomo said. “This is the same battle that we fought day after day for decades…This is the same enemy we faced before â€" new face on an old enemy.”

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the new policy “will allow us and law enforcement to get out in front of a serious problem.”

“As law enforcement agencies have sought to crack down on the distribution and sale of bath salts and similar drugs, the drugs’ manufacturers have chemically modified them to make them legal under state law,” said Vance. “It became clear that as the drugs have changed we needed to expand the law.”