The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to approve legislation today introduced by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley to crack down on synthetic drugs. The “David Mitchell Rozga Act” is named for an Indianola teenager who committed suicide after using an over-the-counter synthetic marijuana known as K-2.
“We’ve got to keep our drug laws up to date,” Grassley explained, “so this is an effort to bring this up to date and it’s the direct result of the Rozga kid committing suicide 14 months ago in Indianola.” Grassley says the bill will ban the chemicals used to make the drug.
“The original intent of these chemicals was for research only so they’ve been put to other uses. People that have legitimate responsible uses of these items would still be able to get ’em,” Grassley said. The teenager’s father testified at a hearing in Washington earlier this year.
The Iowa legislature this year joined several other states to make K-2 and similar drugs illegal. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration passed a temporary ban on the chemicals used to make K-2.