I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2148 

To amend the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act 

of 1998 to increase public awareness about the dangers of synthetic 

drugs through the national youth antidrug media campaign. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 to increase public awareness 

about the dangers of synthetic drugs through the national youth antidrug media campaign. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Synthetics are Dan5 gerous Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Synthetic drugs, sometimes referred to as 

2 designer drugs, are chemical compounds produced in 

3 clandestine laboratories to mimic or enhance the ef4 fects of schedule I controlled substances such as 

5 methamphetamine, ecstasy, and marijuana. 

6 (2) Given the lack of extensive medical research 

7 on many synthetic drugs and their various ana8 logues, the full scope of their harmful effects is not 

9 well understood. 

10 (3) The circumstantial evidence of the harmful 

11 effects of synthetic drugs, particularly synthetic 

12 cannabinoids (such as ‘‘K2’’ and ‘‘spice’’) and syn13 thetic stimulants (such as ‘‘bath salts’’) are, never14 theless, alarming— 

15 (A) in 2010, more than 11,000 individuals 

16 were admitted into the emergency room from 

17 complications arising from synthetic drug use, 

18 and nearly 25 percent of those patients re19 quired further medical treatment; and 

20 (B) in 2011, the American Association of 

21 Poison Control Centers reported more than a 

22 two-fold increase in the number of calls related 

23 to synthetic marijuana from the previous year. 

24 (4) The harmful effects of ingesting synthetic 

25 drugs include but are not limited to agitation, anxVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:45 May 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2148.IH H2148

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1 iety, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, elevated blood 

2 pressure, tremor, seizures, hallucinations, paranoid 

3 behavior, and nonresponsiveness. 

4 (5) Like all schedule I drugs, these synthetic 

5 drugs are drugs that have a high potential for abuse, 

6 have no medical use in the United States, and lack 

7 an accepted safe use. 

8 (6) The passage of the Synthetic Drug Abuse 

9 Prevention Act of 2012 was an important step in re10 ducing the access of teens and young adults to dan11 gerous and addictive synthetic drugs. 

12 (7) New synthetic drugs are being manufac13 tured that contain chemical compounds not found on 

14 schedule I, as set forth in section 202(c) of the Con15 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)), that nev16 ertheless mimic or enhance the effects of controlled 

17 substances like methamphetamine, marijuana, ec18 stasy, and LSD. 

19 (8) Hundreds, potentially thousands, of teens 

20 and young adults will be admitted into emergency 

21 rooms around the country from complications caused 

22 by the ingestion of the next breed of harmful, syn23 thetic drugs. 

24 (9) It is the sense of the Congress that there 

25 is an urgent need, particularly among teens, young 


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1 adults, and parents, to raise awareness about the 

2 dangers of these new synthetic drugs. 

3 SEC. 3. INCREASING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF DANGERS OF 

4 SYNTHETIC DRUGS THROUGH NATIONAL 

5 YOUTH ANTIDRUG MEDIA CAMPAIGN. 

6 Section 709 of the Office of National Drug Control 

7 Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 (21 U.S.C. 1708) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting ‘‘and syn10 thetic drug use’’ after ‘‘illegal drug use’’; and 

11 (2) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection 

12 (m) and inserting after subsection (k) the following 

13 new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) DRUG.—The term ‘drug’ has the meaning 

16 given such term in section 702(3) and includes a 

17 synthetic drug. 

18 ‘‘(2) SYNTHETIC DRUG.—The term ‘synthetic 

19 drug’ means an artificially produced substance that, 

20 as determined by the Director, is an analog or deriv21 ative of a controlled substance (as defined in section 

22 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

23 802(6)), but is not itself a controlled substance.’’. 

Æ 


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