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House backs broader synthetic drug ban

WISH TV

Updated: Jan 26, 2012 5:40 PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana House has approved a bill that would broaden the state's ban on synthetic drugs to include compounds nicknamed "bath salts" and others that mimic marijuana.

The House voted 97-0 Thursday to endorse adding some two dozen chemical compounds to a law that legislators passed last year that bans the synthetic marijuana known as spice or K2. The bill also specifies that related mixtures are illegal and gives the state pharmacy board the authority to declare a substance is a synthetic drug.

Bill sponsor Rep. Milo Smith of Columbus says such flexibility is needed to react to drug makers adjusting their formulas.

The law treats possessing or dealing synthetic marijuana the same as the real drug. It's punishable by up to a year in jail.

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