The world to take this time and pray and ask god to continue to look over our chief and commander and those family members and keep those family members strong and love their loved ones. Host that is a good way to stop this time around. Thank you for all of the calls. ,omorrow on washington journal instead of our usual lineup of to devoteare going the entire three hours to opening our phone lines, opening up twitter for your tweets and spend the full Washington Journal Program tomorrow talking about your reaction to the events in florida. Lets take you back to the white house a little less than one hour ago with president obama. President obama today as americans, we grieve the brutal murder, the horrific massacre of dozens of his dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We stand with the people of orlando who havent doored a terrible attack on their city. Although it is still early in the investigation, we know enough to say this was an act of terror and an act of hate and, as americans, we are united in grief, and outrage, and been resolved to defend our people. I just finished a meeting with fbi director komi and my National Security advisers. Andfbi is on the scene leading the investigation with local Law Enforcement. I have directed the full resources of the federal government be made available for this investigation. We are still learning all the facts. This is an open investigation. Definitiveched no judgment on the precise motivations of the killer. The fbi is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism and i have directed we spare no effort to determine what if any inspiration or association this killer may have had with terrorist groups. Person clear is he was a filled with hatred. Over the coming days, we will uncover how and why this happened and we will go where the facts lead us. This morning, i spoke with my good friend, orlando mayor buddy the and i conveyed to him best condolences of the american people. This could have in any one of our communities and i told the mayor that whatever help he and the people of orlando need, they are going to get it. As a country, we will be there for the people of orlando today, tomorrow, and all the days to come. We also express our profound gratitude to all police and First Responders who rushed to harms way. Their courage and professionalism saved lives and kept the carnage from being even worse. It is the kind of sacrifice our Law Enforcement professionals make every single day for all of us and we can never thank them enough. This was an especially heartbreaking day for our friends and fellow americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends to dance, to sing and to live. The place they attacked is more than a nightclub, its a place of solidarity and empowerment where people come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds come and advocate for their civil rights. This is a sobering reminder that attacks on any americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or Sexual Orientation is an attack on all of us and the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. Terror willte or ever change who we are or the values that make us americans. Today marks the most deadly shooting in american history. The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and powerful assault rifle. Ais massacre is therefore further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in the school or in a house of worship or in a Movie Theater or in a nightclub. We have to decide if thats the kind of country we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well. In the coming hours and days, we will learn about the use of this tragedy, their names, their faces, who they were, the joy that they brought to families and two friends. And the difference that they made in this world. Say a prayer for them and say a prayer for their families. God give them the strength to bear the unbearable and that he give us all the strength to be there for them and the strength and courage to change. Need to demonstrate we are to find more as a country by the way they live their lives than either hate of a man who took them from us. Draw go together, we will inspiration from heroic and selfless acts, friends that helped friends, to care of each. Ther and saved lives in the face of hate and violence, we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn against each other. Instead, we will stand united as americans to protect our people and defend our nation and take who wouldinst those hurt us. May god bless the families of and may god continue to watch over the people that we love. This is an amazing family story if you think about it where terrible cool trees terrible cool trees are perpetrated, but its a family where fathers killed her sons, or wives had their husbands overthrown and murdered, where some colluded in murder. Its a family unlike any other. The romanovs a book about the dynasty that ruled russia for over 300 years. All the girls and all the children were wearing their own bulletproof vest. Not bulletproof vest, but vests sewn with romanoff diamonds, hundreds and hundreds of diamonds so they can have money orcase they needed to escape by their way out. They spent months sewing the diamonds in. When the bullets came, tragically, these made their agony much longer because the diamonds,unced off the hardest substance known to man than they did not die. Tonight on cspans q a. Panel on thete increasing use of synthetic drugs, those created from manmade chemicals rather than natural ingredients. Judicial panelists heard about the challenges and controlling the sale and distribution. This runs two hours and 15 minutes. Wherever they are in the testimony, we will let them give their Opening Statement right away. In many areas, we hear time and again that technology is outpacing the law. But in no other area is the result of this gap as deadly and tragic as it is with the recent rise in the production, marketing, and sale of synthetic drugs to young people. Traffickers created these drugs in laboratories so that they produce the same or greater effects on a user as controlled substances. But when the government acts to ban the new drug, traffickers simply tweak the chemical formula ever so slightly to evade the law. Dealers give these substances exciting names like spice and crazy clown. Legitimateem at Convenience Stores to market them to young people as legal and therefore, presumably safe, a safe way to yet high. But of course, this is all a lie. These drugs are anything but safe. Almost six years ago to the day, iowa became one of the first young people to die from the effects of smoking synthetic marijuana. Davids parents have become advocates for education, awareness, and action against the menace of synthetic drugs. I am honored to have them and davids brother here today. Davids father will share his familys story. Synthetic marijuana, or cannabinoid, is a substance that has little to do with the marijuana plant. The substance is typically composed of plant matter sprayed with chemicals designed to mimic the effect of the thc, the active marijuana ingredient, with far more potency. Synthetic cathinones, often marketed as bath salts or glass cleaner, are another type of synthetic drug. They are stimulants that imitate the effects of cocaine and methamphetamines. More recently, a third category of synthetic drugs has emerged. Synthetic opioids in the form of fentanyl. They are 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. They are deadly convergence of the synthetic drug threat and the current Opioid Epidemic. Last week it was reported that the over choice of fentanyl was responsible for the death of the musician, prince. According to the dea, synthetic drugs are largely developed outside the United States, in china, and smuggled into the country through the mail or across the border with mexico. Reports indicate the profits are often traceable back to the middle east. We need to take a long look if Law Enforcement has the tools needed to protect the public from the synthetics. This committee acted to cleared the traffickers since then it is clear they are outpacing us. Testifying before the Senate Caucus on narcotics cantrol, this committee acted by passing my bill, the David Mitchell rogza act. The bill placed a series of synthetic can have annoyance and other analogs on schedule one. It also extend the time for which a substance can be temporarily scheduled by the da to protect the public. The bill became law as part of the synthetic drug abuse prevention act. This is an important step to protect young people. Calls the Poison Control Centers began to level off or decline for a time. In march 2011, the da has used temporary Scheduling Authority to place 35 synthetic drugs on schedule one. Clearly, the threat posed by these drugs has not abated. Calls the Poison Centers for synthetic marijuana have once again begun despite rising from 2600 in 2013 to 3600 and 2014, almost 8000 in 2015. News stories continue to depict the awful effects of ingesting these substances on our youth t he effects on our health care and criminal Justice Systems. Law enforcement continues to encounter these substances in record numbers. I thank all of our witnesses for being here today to help us learn more about this crisis. Many of us on the committee have supported legislation that we think we can help. Given the complex way that traffickers can invade the law, this is a difficult problem that doesnt have an easy answer. I will turn to senator feinstein. I shortened my statement, i want my printed statement put into the record without objection. Sen. Feinstein thank you. I want to welcome our witnesses. As i look out at the audience, it appears a knowing and intelligent audience. Im pleased to see this. I have a humorous comment. I would not deliver it well. I will cease and desist. We are here to discuss synthetic drugs and the challenges in bringing the manufacturers and traffickers of these substances to justice. I think the audience knows that unregulated substances mimic the effects of controlled substances such as marijuana, pcp, and lsd. That is bad news. In 2015, there were 7789 Poison Center exposures nationwide to Synthetic Cannabinoids, known as synthetic marijuana. This was the most since the drug appeared in the United States. There were 3960 exposures in the states represented by this committee, mr. Chairman. That is almost half of the exposures nationwide. The challenge for Law Enforcement is that manufacturers, mostly in china and india, change one molecule or two molecules in the composition of a drug and produce a controlled substance analog. The new drug, although it has a similar effect on the body to a controlled substance may no longer be illegal under federal law. Enforcement efforts become difficult. These drugs are shipped to our country where they are marketed as legal alternatives to illegal drugs. They appeal to used because they are easily accessible; often sold at gas stations, Convenience Stores, or online. We beginning to see a decrease in synthetic cannabinoid exposures. Other synthetic drugs, such as synthetic opioids, continue to bring havoc. For example, fentanyl and its analogs are deadly and highly addictive synthetic opioids. In sacramento, there were 52 fentanylrelated overdoses in one month, resulting in at least 12 deaths. Nationally, from 2014 to 2013 there was an 80 increase in overdoses involving synthetic opioids, including fentanyl. I have never seen that before. An 80 increase in one year. While alarmingly high, these statistics may be inaccurate. Fentanylcaused deaths are often misclassified as prescription opioid or heroin related. Like other illicit drugs, illicit fentanyl and its analogs are clandestinely produced and primarily enter the United States in one of three ways. One, chinese chemists reduce and ship it to the United StatesVia International mail. Two, mexican drug traffickers produce it with precursor chemicals from china and smuggle it across the southwest border. Three, chinese chemists reduce it and ship it to canada, where it is smuggled across the northern border. The point is, regardless of the type, synthetic drugs pose a deadly and quickly evolving Public Health threat. Mr. Chairman, you and i have held 2 drug caucus hearings on this topic dating back to 2011. Since then, congress has only scheduled 26 substances, and another 35 have been administratively controlled through temporary scheduling only 11 of which have been permanently controlled. Simply put, our current legislative and administrative framework prevents the swift action that is needed to address this constantly evolving problem. That is why, with others, in 2015 i reintroduced the protecting our youth from dangerous synthetic drugs act. This is a bipartisan bill cosponsored by many members of this committee. This bill would prevent manufacturers from skirting federal law by establishing an Interagency Committee that would convene on an as needed basis to quickly designate and prohibit new synthetic drugs encountered by Law Enforcement. Importantly, since controlled substance analogues are not subject to schedule one research restrictions, legitimate scientific and medical research would be safeguarded. Controlling new synthetic drugs more quickly will better enable us to protect our nations youth and ensures successful persecutions against those who manufacture and traffic these drugs. If people here have comments on this bill, i would very much like to hear them. One thing is clear, mr. Chairman. We have to move, we have to do something to stop this. I have never seen this in my lifetime before in this country. I am hopeful that under your leadership we will be able to come forward with important legislation. I thank you, very much. Sen. Grassley i associate myself with her remarks about acting quickly. Michael botticelli is the director of the National Drug control policy. He leads the administrations drug policy efforts, and is responsible were creating an annual National Drug control strategy. Previously, he served as the director of Substance Abuse substances at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. An undergraduate degree at siena college, and a masters of education at st. Lawrence university. We are glad you are back. Richard hartunian, the u. S. Attorney, Northern District new york. Prior to his confirmation,n he served as assistant u. S. Attorney for 12 years. He is a graduate of georgetown university, Albany Law School of union university. Chuck rosenberg has served as acting administrator of the dea since may of 2015. He began his Career Service his career in Public Service as an assistant of public attorney in virginia from 1994 to 2000. After a few years in the private sector he served in a series of senior positions in Law Enforcement, including console to then fbi director mueller of the fbi, and to then attorney general, and then Deputy Attorney general. He holds law degree from the university of virginia and a masters degree from harvard. The final witness is dr. Douglas throckmorton Deputy Director from the center of drug evaluation and research at the u. S. Fda. He joined the fda in 1997 after working as a basic science researcher and academic position at the Medical College of georgia and Veterans Administration hospital in augusta, georgia. He earned his m. D. From the university of Nebraska Medical School and completed his residency in western reserve and his fellowship at yale university. Would you start . Mr. Botticelli thank you for inviting me back to discuss issues related to synthetic drugs. Although all synthetic drugs, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cannabinoids, are a concern of the administration i will focus on new psychoactive substances. There known as designer drugs or legal highs. They are designed to mimic these effects of controlled substances and circumvent controls. In 2015, the United Nations estimated there were over 600 identified nps on the mobile market. The vast majority are not controlled under Un Drug Treaties or authorities. Nps are often mixed with material to form a dangerous final package in alluring packaging. The composition could vary from batch to batch. They have no known medical use, and many pose a serious threat to Public Health, including addiction and lifethreatening medical consequences. I appreciate that they are here from iowa talk about davids Death Associated with the use of a synthetic cannabinoid. There are many young people who are testament to the deadly impact nps are having on our communities. Although the un, the federal government, and all 50 states, and the District Of Columbia have developed responses to controlled substances, that use with which they can be manufactured ex