Synthetic Drugs Growing In Popularity In Central Minnesota Schools

ST. CLOUD -- Officials from 14 schools in central Minnesota will be getting together tomorrow (Tuesday) to talk about the rapidly growing problem of synthetic drug use.

Synthetic drugs are often known by their brand names "K2" and "Spice" and they're sold legally as herbal incense.

Dan Becker is a chemical health counselor in the St. Cloud school district.  He says the drug is becoming very popular among young people.

Becker says synthetic drugs have only been in the U.S. for a few years, and it's use really exploded last summer.  He says there haven't been a lot of tests on these drugs, and their long term affects are not known.

Again, synthetic drugs are legal in Minnesota, but State Representative Steve Gottwalt of St. Cloud says he wants to get a law passed this session to ban the substance.

Along with possible state laws, the Federal Government is also considering banning five compounds commonly used to make synthetic drugs, but experts say the problem is those compounds are constantly changing.

Tomorrow's (Tuesday) meeting with area school leaders is from 10:00 a.m. until noon at the Stearns County Government Center in Waite Park.

The full interview with Dan Becker is below: