Law cracks down on synthetic chemicals

Legislation addressing the criminalization of synthetic cannabinoids passed the General Assembly on April 18, 2012 and will be signed into law on July 1, 2012.

Taylor Thornley, Deputy Director of Communications for the Office of Governor Bob McDonnell, issued the following statement regarding HB 508.

“The legislation that passed the General Assembly is a product of collaboration between the bill patrons and the Virginia Department of Forensic Science and brings drug control laws for synthetic marijuana and bath salts up to date.  The law is as useful as science presently allows in that the legislation adds classes of “cannabimimetic agents.” The hope is that by adding these new classes, we won’t have to add new individual synthetic cannabinoid compounds to the Code every year.  The expectation is that any newly created versions of synthetic cannabinoids will fall under these classes and thus be prohibited by the law.  Unfortunately, it is not possible to identify bath salts by classes, so those may need to be updated every year.  Ultimately, we have tried to address the substances that we know have been identified in Virginia and, with regard to synthetic cannabinoids, we should be able to avoid amending the law each year in order to prohibit their sale, manufacture and possession."