President Obama signs ban on synthetic drugs into law

President Barack Obama has signed legislation outlawing synthetic drugs, including a substance that led to the death of a Minnesota teen last year.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar sponsored the legislation. She says the new law gives authorities tools they need to crack down on synthetics.

The legislation is part of a broader bill covering several pharmaceutical and medical issues. It bans a substance known as 2C-E, which killed 19 year-old Trevor Robinson last year and sickened 10 others.

The law signed Monday also bans some chemicals found in synthetic marijuana and synthetics called “bath salts.”

Klobuchar says that now that this law is approved, her next step will be to strengthen the analogue statute – to cover those synthetics that have been slightly altered in an attempt to circumvent the ban.