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Should Michigan be concerned about synthetic drugs?

Synthetic drugs are designed to mimic conventional drugs while avoiding prosecution.
www.retreat-lc.com
Synthetic drugs are designed to mimic conventional drugs while avoiding prosecution.
Synthetic drugs are designed to mimic conventional drugs while avoiding prosecution.
Credit www.retreat-lc.com
/
www.retreat-lc.com
Synthetic drugs are designed to mimic conventional drugs while avoiding prosecution.

Our conversation with Victor Fitz

The latest designer drugs are just a few mouse clicks away, easily ordered from Chinese websites.Powerful synthetic drugs like bath salts and Flakka are making their way into the country.

Victor Fitz, president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, explains that designer drugs are created in response to the country’s stringent drug laws.

“They would just change a few chemicals, change slightly the composition of the drug, and mimic one of the other drugs,” Fitz says, and in that way drug manufacturers could at least temporarily avoid  prosecution.

It takes time for the Legislature to rule a drug illegal, but Fitz tells us that law enforcement doesn’t always have to wait for the ruling to take action.

“When they see a drug that appears to be dangerous, they can put it on the ‘temporarily illegal’ list until the Legislature acts on it to make it illegal,” he says.

Victor Fitz tells us more about designer drugs and gives parents some advice in our conversation above.

Copyright 2021 Michigan Radio. To see more, visit Michigan Radio.

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