WASHINGTON, DC (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says his laws to close loopholes that allow synthetic marijuana and dangerous "bath salts" to be sold openly have passed the Senate.
The House of Representatives has passed a similar bill banning synthetic marijuana and Schumer's bill and the House bill will go to conference committees soon. A final bill that could become law will be negotiated there.
Schumer's bill would prevent manufacturers from tweaking compounds to make synthetic marijuana technically legal. The New York Democrat's bill also targets so-called bath salts, a compound that can be purchased in grocery stores but can be mixed and provide a kind of narcotic high.
Synthetic marijuana is trafficked under names like Legal Phunk and Spice.
The bath salts' names include Tranquility, Zoom, Ivory Wave and Vanilla Sky.
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