Gov signs bill banning ‘bath salts’ drugs in Ohio

Asso­ci­ated Press

COLUMBUS — Syn­thetic recre­ational drugs, includ­ing crys­tals called “bath salts,” will be banned in Ohio under a bill signed by Gov. John Kasich.

The gov­er­nor on Fri­day signed leg­is­la­tion out­law­ing the pos­ses­sion, use and sale of the drugs already banned by some Ohio communities.

The leg­is­la­tion makes penal­ties for pos­ses­sion or traf­fick­ing of the drugs — includ­ing those known as bath salts, K2 or Spice — the same as those for mar­i­juana. It makes pos­ses­sion a mis­de­meanor and traf­fick­ing near a school or juve­nile a felony.

Bath salts are crys­tal­ized chem­i­cals that are snorted, swal­lowed or smoked. They can cause para­noia and hal­lu­ci­na­tion, and their use has led to hun­dreds of calls to poi­son cen­ters nation­wide. They have been sold legally in gas sta­tions, tobacco shops and other businesses.

Posted by AP News on Jul 15 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.