Last month, we wrote about the efforts of Pennsylvania legislators to enact a ban on bath salts, which are not bath products at all, but a mixture of substances that includes synthetic drug products that are similar in effect to cocaine and methamphetamine. After being unanimously passed by the state House of Representatives, the bill will go back to the Senate for final confirmation, and then on to the governor. If passed, it could take effect in as little as 60 days after receiving the governor's signature.

Senate Bill 1006, which passed the Pennsylvania Senate earlier this year, effectively amends the state Controlled Substance, Drug and Cosmetic Act. It will expand that act's list of banned narcotics substances to include Salvia Divinorm, Salvinorin A, Sivinorin A, synthetic marijuana, synthetic cocaine, and synthetic heroin. These substances will now be considered Schedule 1 controlled substances under the act.

According to the bill, the effects of these synthetic drug products are similar to other drugs that are listed as Schedule 1 substances, such as cocaine and meth, with side effects such as violent hallucinations.

Earlier, the Pennsylvania legislature passed two competing bath salt bans with conflicting language in each bill. The two legislative bodies appear to have come together to enact the current bath salt ban.

United States Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is also working to ban bath salts at the national level. In recent months, he wrote a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in which he asked the agency to ban the bath salt products for one year to allow for a more extensive DEA study of the drugs and all side effects.

Source: Pocono Record, "Pa. House passes ban on 'bath salts'," 14 June 2011