Local and national headlines are full of stories about the effects of “K2,” “spice,” “Glass Cleaner,” “bath salts” and a multitude of other synthetic drugs. Parents and decision-makers, please don’t be confused; these products are not altered household items. Synthetic drugs are man-made substances that are marketed to our youth with the intent of causing a ‘‘high.’’

This stuff hurts our kids, fills our local emergency rooms, puts unnecessary demands on our local law enforcement agencies and puts our communities at risk of unthinkable violence and destruction. Many communities across the nation have taken steps to create ordinances to prohibit the display, sale, distribution and use of these products. The New York state Legislature will be considering a state law in the fall.

We can, we must, do more. I challenge all of our local leaders to join together and create a county ordinance to ban the display, sale, distribution and use of synthetic drugs and dedicate the necessary resources to enforce them.

I challenge local residents to report those who are selling this stuff to youths and to boycott those businesses that continue to sell the products.

At the state level, I urge legislators to move quickly and decisively to protect our young citizens.

At the national level, I implore Congress, with the Food and Drug Administration, to issue immediately an emergency order declaring these products illegal.

Terra L. House

Three Mile Bay

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer