Post Standard: Oswego Mom Praises NYS Senate For Passing Synthetic Drugs Bills

By Mike McAndrew January 28, 2016

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The mom of an Oswego County teenager who died after smoking synthetic drugs praised the New York State Senate for passing a series of bills this week aimed at combating the deadly drugs.

But Teresa Woolson said she is worried that the state Assembly will let the legislation die without voting on it - just like it did last year. 

Victor Woolson, 19, died Aug. 10, 2012 at Oswego Hospital, where he had been rushed the day before after he had smoked synthetic marijuana and collapsed while swimming in Lake Ontario with friends.

Woolson, a Scriba resident and student at Cayuga Community College in Fulton, had purchased a product called "Pineapple Avalanche" from an Oswego shop,Xtreme Underground, shortly before that, his mother said. Marketed as an incense, the product contained a man-made drug called synthetic cannabinoids, which can cause death, she said.

"I was, of course, outraged," Woolson said. "How could a product be on the shelf of a store and then kill my son the same day?"

The Senate passed five bills Monday to try to prevent the sale of synthetic drugs, whose manufacturers frequently change the chemical compounds of the products to stay a step ahead of federal and state drug laws.

One law would make it a crime to possess or sell a product containing synthetic cannabinoids. Conviction of a misdemeanor possession charge could result in a jail term of up to one year. Depending on the weight of the product, possessing or selling felonies could result in prison terms of up to 25 years.

Another bill would make it a civil violation of the state's general business law for a business to sell products containing synthetic cannabinoids. A court could fine a business $2,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for a second, and could revoke a store's licenses to sell tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets for a third offense within five years.

"I'm very pleased to have something passed," Woolson said of the Senate action. "But I'm apprehensive because it has to get through the Assembly. I will be in the near future writing letters to encourage the Assembly to pass the bill."

What will the Assembly do?

The Assembly will review the bills, said Michael Whyland, a spokesman for the Democratic majority there.

He said Speaker Carl Heastie has not indicated this year if he will support the synthetic drug bills.

Deirdre Canaday, a woman from Athens, in Greene County, whose son, Aaron Stinson, died in 2011 after smoking synthetic marijuana, said she's been told that Assembly members fear that criminalizing synthetic marijuana would disproportionately impact minorities.

"The New York State Assembly needs to understand these criminalization bills won't lock up people's sons and daughters. We are trying to save their sons and daughters," Canaday said. "We are going after the distributors and manufacturers of these poisons."

Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan called on the Assembly to pass the bills.

"For five years, I have sponsored legislation that has passed the Senate on numerous occasions so that we can hold criminals accountable for the creation of new and dangerous drugs that evade our current laws. It is past time for the Assembly to join us and help put an end to synthetic drugs today," said Flanagan, R-Smithtown.

A report released by the Senate this week said over 6,800 people have been hospitalized statewide as a result of using synthetic cannabinoids and 68 percent of those patients used Medicaid, resulting in over $1.1 million in payouts by taxpayers.

"In Onondaga County, synthetic marijuana overdose cases have risen by 580 percent since 2011," said Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, who sponsored one of the Senate bills. "My bill will require the State Department of Health to establish a database of these deadly chemicals to better inform the public, retailers and law enforcement about these toxic drugs."

Please click here to read more on syracuse.com or here to read more on the legislative package passed by the New York State Senate.