Pubdate: Sat, 01 Feb 2014
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Copyright: 2014 The Columbus Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.dispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93
Author: Will Drabold
Page: B6

CRIMINALIZING CHEMICALS CLOSES LEGAL LOOPHOLE

By criminalizing certain chemicals, Ohio could finally have a way to
cease the sale of drugs such as bath salts and synthetic marijuana.

The rule change, set to take effect in March, comes from the Ohio
State Board of Pharmacy. It will list certain pharmacophores -
molecules that elicit a response from the human body - as Schedule I
controlled substances, which also include heroin and ecstasy.

That classification will make the drugs illegal to possess or
sell.

Drugs known as bath salts, synthetic marijuana and incense have
thwarted Ohio lawmakers for several years because of their chemistry.
To keep them off the street, lawmakers have repeatedly banned the
chemical structure of each specific drug, starting in 2010.

But to circumvent the law, street chemists routinely add an extra
molecule or two to the drug, technically changing it and making it
legal, said Jon Sprague, director of research and discovery at Ferris
State University in Big Ra[ids, Mich.

"These evil chemists who are making this stuff try to stay one step
ahead of the law," said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, whose
office encouraged the rule change. "They try to make something that
does not fall within the definitions of the Ohio Revised Code."

Chemical structures have been changed to create drugs for years,
including the production of methamphetamine from Sudafed, said
Sprague, who worked on the rule change while at a previous job at Ohio
Northern University.

Statewide, use of these drugs already seems to be dropping. For
example, the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Center, which services much of
the southern part of Ohio, had only 15 calls about bath salts in 2013
- - down from 456 in 2011.

There will be a public hearing on the rule change on Feb. 13, said
Cameron McNamee, legislative liaison for the state board.

Will Drabold is a fellow in Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of
Journalism Statehouse News Bureau.
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MAP posted-by: Matt