Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a bill into law Thursday that expands the list of drugs prohibited in the state of Virginia to include various synthetic cannabinoids and bath salts.
“The legislation signed today continues Virginia’s commitment to combating the spread of illegal drugs in the Commonwealth and preserving the safety of our schools and neighborhoods,” McDonnell said in a statement Wednesday.
Though similar substances were criminalized in 2011 by the Virginia General Assembly, suppliers still “continue to develop and market chemical variations outside the list of prohibited substances,” McDonnell said. Law enforcement has found it challenging to keep up with the changing variations of these chemical substances.
The Department of Forensic Science is working with law enforcement officials to identify five additional chemical drugs that were recently obtained, McDonnell said. To combat these new strains of drugs, McDonnell is proposing new legislation to assist state officials.
“To account for this recent development, I will be requesting amendments for the [Senate bill] 1083, patroned by Sen. Mark Herring, to include these new chemicals to the list of prohibited under the Code of Virginia,” McDonnell said.
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