Tougher Penalties for Synthetic Drug Sales Have Been Approved By DC Council

In response to the spike in violence in DC related to synthetic drugs, such as synthetic marijuana, DC council has approved tougher penalties for business which sell synthetic drugs, according to NBC Washington News4.

Businesses in DC will now face new penalties if caught selling synthetic drugs. The DC Council has passed emergency legislation which will allow Police Chief Cathy Lanier to shut down any business for 96 hours if they are caught selling synthetic drugs.

“That is a victory for public safety in the District,” Mayor Muriel Bowser told News4.

According to a report from NBC Washington News, businesses caught selling drugs including scooby snax, spice, K2, bizarro, and train wreck will be fined $10,000 for their first offense and could potentially be shut down if caught a second time.

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Kevin Donahue, attributed the use of synthetic drugs to the spike in violent crimes in DC.  “We know that when we arrest people for violent crimes, almost 40 percent have synthetic drugs in their system,” said Donahue in an interview.

According to the American Association of Poison Control, synthetic drugs are unregulated, highly addictive, and can cause psychotic episodes, aggressive behavior and seizures.

DC Assistant Attorney General Argatonia Washington told News4 in a previous discussion that “Synthetic drugs are extraordinarily serious. They’re in fact deadly.”

District officials are currently working towards cracking down on the suppliers of theses dangerous synthetic drugs, not the users, Washington Post reporter Abigail Hauslohner told News4.

Hopefully other states suffering from the epidemic of synthetic drug use will follow suit and begin cracking down on synthetic drug suppliers in their state.

Do you believe that cracking down on the suppliers of synthetic drugs will helpin the fight against synthetic drug use?

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