Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Protecting Our Youth From Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act of 2013 along with my colleagues and friends, Senators Klobuchar, Manchin and Schumer. This bill will provide law enforcement and prosecutors with an important new tool to address the growing threat posed by dangerous, synthetic drugs. Synthetic drugs are unregulated substances designed by scientists to mimic the effects of controlled substances. They are packaged in a manner which is intended to appeal to our Nation's youth and are sold at gas stations, head shops and over the Internet. Manufacturers of these products boldly seek to circumvent Federal law by marketing their merchandise as innocuous items like potpourri, incense, bath salts and plant food and stating that they are ``not intended for human consumption.'' Make no mistake; the individuals who produce, distribute and sell these products are nothing more than drug traffickers who seek to profit from the human use of these drug products. When Congress outlawed several of these synthetic drugs last year, traffickers did not stop producing them. Instead, they made slight alterations to the chemical structure of the illegal drugs to skirt the law. By doing this, the traffickers produced ``controlled substance analogues.'' The bill I am introducing today will give law enforcement the tools they need to prosecute individuals who produce and distribute controlled substance analogues.…”