Pa. Governor Tom Corbett Signs Law Banning Drugs Known As 'Bath Salts'
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett today signed a bill that will ban the possession, use, or sale of "bath salts" and similar synthetic drugs in the state.
Just moments before he signed the bill that will ban them, Gov. Corbett recited a list of horror stories involving people in Pennsylvania experiencing agitation, paranoia, or hallucinations while under the influence of the drugs that are marketed as "bath salts," allegedly to fly beneath law enforcement radar.
"In Carbon County," the governor noted, "a man held police at bay with an assault rifle for hours. In Lackawanna County, a man broke into a monastery and stabbed a priest."
And in Montgomery County, authorities believe that synthetic marijuana was involved in a 16-year-old boy's plunge from a mall garage last week (see related story).
Synthetic drugs have been legally sold in some tobacco shops and specialty stores, and the new law banning them won't take effect for 60 days, to give shop owners fair notice, but the governor and law enforcement authorities are asking retailers to voluntarily remove them from shelves immediately.
Reported by Tony Romeo, KYW Newsradio 1060
