It's time for the State Legislature to pass legislation dealing more forcefully with the rise of synthetic drugs in New York, Batavia City Council members said on Monday.
City staff will draft a resolution for the council to vote on at its next meeting, encouraging Albany to expand the penal code to make the manufacture, sale and possession of designer drugs a crime with the same penalties as any other controlled substance.
Some on council wanted to know why the city couldn't enact is own tough, local law, but City Attorney George Van Nest explained that's easier said than done.
"The state has determined that this should be addressed under state law," Van Nest said. "There's that issue, that if the city chose to go above and beyond that, it would be preempted by state action.
"There's also a matter of complexity," Van Nest added. "As the materials indicate, this is a very complicated matter. For city staff to sit down and to try and draft and articulate a statute that's going to stand up in court, withstand challenge, is not going to be an easy undertaking."
Last week, the governor's office announced an emergency order banning the sale and possession of a wide range of synthetic drug compounds, including substances that act like controlled substances.
But breaking this law is only a violation. The maximum criminal penalty under the law is a $500 fine and 15 days in jail.
Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian noted that DEA agents seized about $750,000 from the reported owners of The 420 Emporium chain in raids on July 25, which is quite a bit of money compared to a $500 fine.
Incorporating sale and possession into penal law would mean defendants could face a year in jail for a misdemeanor or several years in prison for a felony conviction (depending on the how much of the substance a defendant possessed).
City Manager Jason Molino shared a report with council members that said from around May 1 (the approximate date The 420 Emporium opened in Batavia) until July 25 (when the DEA raided the store (and it's been closed since)), Batavia PD handled 35 to 40 calls for "bath salts" related incidents.
Since July 25, Batavia PD has handled no such calls.
During the course of those three months, seven individuals were identified as alleged bath salt users.
"That doesn't mean there couldn't have been more, but we didn't have contact with them," Molino said.
"Bath salts" has become a generic name for a range of products that, despite their "not for human consumption" labels, are often snorted, injected or inhaled in order to provide the user with a stimulant-type of high or hallucinations. The chemicals used have nothing in common with substances commonly added to hot water to provide a relaxing bath.
Because the manufacturers of these chemicals change the compounds as quickly as state and federal officials can ban them, it will take a more comprehensive piece of legislation from Albany to effectively deal with the synthetic drug trade in New York.
