[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S19]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. 
        Schumer, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
        Portman, and Mr. Whitehouse):
  S. 36. A bill to address the continued threat posed by dangerous 
synthetic drugs by amending the Controlled Substances Act relating to 
controlled substance analogues; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the 
Protecting Our Youth from Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act of 2015, with 
my colleagues, Senators Kelly Ayotte, Richard Blumenthal, Barbara 
Boxer, Amy Klobuchar, Rob Portman, Charles Schumer, Jeanne Shaheen and 
Sheldon Whitehouse. This legislation addresses the significant harm 
that synthetic drugs cause our communities.
  When Congress outlawed several synthetic drugs in 2012, traffickers 
did not stop producing them. Instead, they slightly altered the drugs' 
chemical structure to skirt the law, producing ``controlled substance 
analogues'' which are dangerous, chemically similar to Schedule I 
substances, and mimic the effects of drugs like ecstasy, cocaine, PCP, 
and LSD.
  Manufacturers of synthetic drugs often prey upon youth, selling 
products such as Scooby Snax, Potpourri, and Joker Herbal. But make no 
mistake: these products are dangerous. In the first ten months of 2014 
alone, poison centers nationwide responded to approximately 3,900 calls 
related to synthetic drugs.
  Under current law, determining whether a substance meets the vague 
legal criteria of a ``controlled substance analogue'' results in a 
``battle of experts'' inside the courtroom. Significantly, a substance 
ruled to be an analogue in one case is not automatically an analogue in 
a second case.
  The Protecting Our Youth from Dangerous Synthetics Drug Act addresses 
these issues. This bill creates an interagency committee of scientists 
that will establish and maintain an administrative list of controlled 
substance analogues. The Committee is structured to respond quickly 
when new synthetic drugs enter the market.
  Because virtually all of these controlled substance analogues arrive 
in bulk from outside our borders, the bill makes it illegal to import a 
controlled substance analogue on the list unless the importation is 
intended for non-human use.
  Finally, the bill directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review, 
and if appropriate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines for 
violations of the Controlled Substances Act pertaining to controlled 
substance analogues.
  In sum, this bill sends a strong message to drug traffickers who 
attempt to circumvent our Nation's laws: no matter how you alter the 
chemical structure of synthetic drugs to try to get around the law, we 
will ban these substances to keep them away from our children.
                                 ______