ALBANY, N.Y. - The New York Attorney General's office is suing 16 shops across the state to stop them from selling so-called bath salts and other synthetic drugs.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says Tuesday that his office has filed lawsuits in 12 counties targeting retailers commonly known as head shops.
Schneiderman says the lawsuits follow an undercover investigation and accuse shops from Buffalo to Long Island of violating New York's labeling laws. Those laws require that products sold to consumers show, among other things, what's in them and where they're made and packed.
Schneiderman says it's been difficult for authorities to outlaw synthetic drugs because manufacturers tweak the compounds once certain chemicals are banned.
He says with psychoactive effects similar to those in substances obtained for illegal drug use, these products are typically packaged with innocuous names and bright graphics to give the misleading impression that their use is harmless.
The sale of these dangerous drugs in head shops has contributed to a public health crisis, increasingly linked to bizarre and violent behavior, in New York State and across the nation.
During the investigation, investigators from the Attorney General's office shopped at number of typical head shops located in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Watertown, Plattsburgh, Albany, Poughkeepsie, Binghamton, Rockland, and Nassau Counties.
Investigators entered each store and purchased a representative sample of illegally labeled intoxicants, capturing the transactions and interactions with store personnel using undercover video.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NEWS10 ABC
