http://mycn2.com/politics/beshear-uses-new-law-for-first-time-to-ban-synthetic-drug

Publication Date: December 18, 2012

Author: Pure Politics

Beshear uses new law for first time to ban synthetic drug

12/18/2012 06:22 PM

Gov. Steve Beshear on Tuesday used a new power for the first time to ban a synthetic drug that recently cropped up in Kentucky.

This spring, the General Assembly granted the governor the power to use administrative regulations to outlaw addictive and destructive drugs newly concocted that aren’t currently included in the statutes. The goal of that power — included in a bill pushed by Democratic Rep. John Tilley — is to keep up with the ever-evolving drug market, especially those of synthetic drugs with names like “bath salts” and “Ivory Wave.”

Beshear told reporters in Louisville that law enforcement officials recently discovered a new cannabinoid. The governor said within days of that discovery, administrative officials were able to draft new regulations to add that to the list of schedule 1 drugs.

An emergency clause makes that effective immediately, meaning anyone caught selling this latest substance will be prosecuted and fined. Here’s what Beshear said about the measure:

About Pure Politics

Pure Politics with Ryan Alessi airs Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET and again at 11:30 p.m. ET in all of Insight's Kentucky markets. The program features political analysis and news, as well as interviews with officials, candidates, policy makers and political observers.

Comments

  • Bruce Layne wrote on December 29, 2012 10:53 AM :

    The only drug I take is caffeine. I haven’t worked up to coffee yet, but you know, tea is a gateway drug.

    That being said, this notion that we’re just going to side step the legislative process and use “administrative regulation” to immediately make anything illegal is dangerous to our liberty. Administrative regulation means that laws aren’t being passed by elected officials who are responsible to the voters. We now have unelected bureaucrats deciding on their own initiative what is legal and what isn’t.

    This is an open invitation to tyranny and corruption. We’re now well on our way to Mexican style law enforcement, where the law is whatever the law enforcer says it is. “This ham sammmich is contraband. I’m confiscating it… for my lunch. Gimme any lip, and I’ll arrest you for resisting arrest.”

    Look at the elections last month, where marijuana was legalized for recreational use in Colorado and Washington state. I think people are finally waking up to the fact that the war on (some) drugs is worse than the drugs themselves.

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