An administrator with the Office of National Drug Control Policy is coming to Portland Thursday to meet with law enforcement officials about the impacts of bath salts abuse in Maine.

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, invited Deputy Director Benjamin Tucker to hear first-hand accounts from local police. The problems has been especially severe in Bangor and Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastia will make a presentation at the meeting.

Michaud is a cosponsor of the Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2011, which places a ban on synthetic drugs such as bath salts. Bath salts is a synthetic cocaine-like drug that had been packaged and sold as a bath additive before its sale was banned by Maine’s Legislature.

The meeting will be held at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Portland. Michaud and Tucker are expecetd to be joined by U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II, U.S. Marshal Noel C. March, FBI Resident Agent in Charge Todd DiFede and representatives of the U.S. Drug  Enforcement Agency, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspector and other agencies.

Meanwhile Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, announced that she is introducing an amendment to better coordinate federal law enforcement and resources to fight abuse of bath salts.

Snowe intends to file her legislation as an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012, which is currently the pending business in the Senate. It would require the Department of Justice to craft a comprehensive strategy for partnering with local law enforcement to target the spread of bath salts, including public awareness campaigns and efforts to restrict availability of the drugs.

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