Do you know what 7H is? Are your kids consuming it?

Check out the weekly article below by one of our ministry partners Donna McKinley, founder of McKinley Reports.

by Donna Funderburke McKinley

7H, an herbal incense, marketed as potpourri and labeled “not for human consumption” can cause severe kidney, liver and lung failure as well as mental retardation. The Kentucky State Police Crime Lab reported that 7H material contained 1-(5-fluoropentyl)-3-(1-naphthoyl) indole, also called AM-2201. In Australia, an estimated 300,000 plus adults are addicted to naphthoylindole.

Individually, both of the chemicals in 7H are banned from production in the United States, Europe and Australia, Western Kentucky University biochemist Dr. Rajalingam Dakshinamurthy told news reporters. However, when they are combined, they become a different substance – not banned, but definitely not made for human consumption.

A year-long ban on three synthetic stimulants used to make “bathsalts” expires October 21. The ban on synthetic marijuana expires in September. Congress is considering the issue with House Resolution 1254, the Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2011. If passed, the act would add AM-2201, the chemical name for 7H, and many other chemicals to the list of Schedule 1 controlled substances. The legislation has picked up bipartisan support with 20 co-sponsors. The Bill has passed the House. But the legislation is stuck in the Senate, where Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is keeping it from reaching a floor vote. Dozens of teens and young adults have been hospitalized in recent months — and some have died after smoking, snorting or swallowing the chemicals. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a former prosecutor who proposed legislation to ban the synthetic hallucinogens, said she and several other senators are trying to persuade Paul to lift his block and allow debate on the Senate floor.

One story reported out of Bowling Green, Ky. demonstrates the dangers of 7H: A recent high school graduate, took a hit of 7H while hanging out at a hookah bar with friends last year and was hospitalized. Within minutes her body began to react to the chemicals. “Within three minutes, she was paralyzed,” her mother told reporters. She later told her mother that as she lay on the floor, totally paralyzed she could hear her friends discuss how and where to dispose of her body if she died.

You can make a difference. Contact Senator Rand Paul and encourage him to do the right thing.

The Honorable Rand Paul

United States Senate

208 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510-1703

Senate 202-224-4343

FAX 202-228-6917

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/SenatorRandPaul

Email by visiting his Web site: http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=contact

Chief of Staff: Doug Stafford http://twitter.com/#!/dougstafford

Click here for an important article on 7H

Donna Funderburke-McKinley