Synthetic Drugs Might Soon Be Illegal In N.D. - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Synthetic Drugs may soon be illegal in the State of North Dakota.

Synthetic Drugs are an ongoing problem nationwide and right here in North Dakota.

Wednesday afternoon Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem announces his plan to stop synthetic drugs from circulating in the state.

Big Willies in Mandan is a little quieter Wednesday, after a cease and desist order is issued, banning the business from selling bath salts, incense and other synthetic products.

"It stretches anybody's credibility to come in and claim these are bath salts that sell for $20 to $30 per gram, which is far more than you can get bath oil beads for," Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.

Stenehjem says none of the information required by the food and drug act is provided on these products.

"Our food and drug act requires a number of important pieces of information one of them is a clear labeling of what exactly it is that is inside of these products," Stenehjem said.

The only label on the packaging is a label saying "not for human consumption," which Stenehjem says is exactly what its being used for.

"Citizens in North Dakota are losing their health, we've even seen some that are at potential risk of fatalities as a result of consuming these or ingesting these products and we simply cannot wait," Stenehjem said.

The Attorney Generals office is aware that other stores in North Dakota have sold the products in the past but is not aware of any recent sales, however, if they find out that other shops are also selling synthetics, they too will be issued a cease and desist order.

"I simply cannot permit, these individuals who for no reason other than profit are willing to harm our citizens, potentially kill them and then thumb their nose under the pretense of putting a simple misleading and false statement on the back not for human consumption," Stenehjem said.

When we went to Big Willies Wednesday afternoon the store was closed.

In addition to the cease and desist order, Stenehjem is also meeting with the Pharmacy Board tomorrow, proposing an emergency rule to add synthetic drugs to the list of controlled substances.

If synthetics are added to the list it will make it a class B felony to sell synthetics and a class C felony to have possession of the substance.