The Tennessee legislature hits the ground running today, the second week of its 2012 session. When the gavel bangs at noon, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up two bills that address widespread drug abuse in the state – so-called “designer drugs,” and methamphetamine.

The full Senate gave the committee the green light last week to take up the bills, even though the deadline to set the agenda had already passed. That’s unusual this early in the session and is a marker of how important these two issues are.

“Designer drugs” are often sold across the counter as “bath salts” or “plant food.” Manufacturers take an illegal drug, make chemical changes of as little as one molecule and create a substance that isn’t illegal – at least, not yet.

One of the bills says that if a new chemical substance mimics a drug that is already illegal, then that new substance is also an illegal drug.

So-called “bath salts” have become a hot issue for local governments. Several cities have banned their sale, and in Rutherford County, police raids have targeted convenience stores that carry the phony “bath salts.”

The second bill would add people to the methamphetamine registry for simply possessing the equipment to make meth.

WEB EXTRA
The bill to control new synthetic drugs [“bath salts”] is SB 2172 Beavers/ HB 2218 Shipley. Click here for the bill’s summary.

The proposed legislation to add new methamphetamine offenses for the registry of meth offenders is SB 2190 Mae Beavers/ HB 2333 Vance Dennis. The legislative summary is here.