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Mandan firm can no longer sell synthetic drugs

Dave Thompson
/
Prairie Public

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has issued a “cease and desist” order against a Mandan business that sells synthetic drugs under the guise of bath salts.

Big Willies and its owners are prohibited from selling those substances. Stenehjem says he’s also asking the state Board of Pharmacy for an emergency rule – so that these synthetic drugs are treated as a Class One substance. That means selling those substances would be a class “A” felony.

The sellers say the products are labeled “not for human consumption.” But Stenehjem says they’re marketed as legal alternatives to street drugs.

“It stretches anybody's credibility for anyone to come in and claim that these are bath salts that sell for $20 to $30 a gram," Stenehjem told Bismarck reporters. "Nobody uses them for that purpose.”                       

Stenehjem says he is still planning to ask the next Legislature to ban those substances. And he says he considered waiting until the session.

"The fact of the matter is, citizens of North Dakota are losing their health by using these products," said Stenehjem. "We've even seesn potential risk of fatalities. And we simply cannot wait."

If the Board of Pharmacy approves the emergency rule,  Stenehjem says it will likely take effect in early December.

The Board of Pharmacy meets Thursday to consider the emergency rule.

Stenehjem says that rule will likely take effect in early December.