As our nation's illicit drug use changes, so must our laws that restrict them. That's why we applaud President Obama's signing of legislation banning several types of synthetic drugs.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., along with Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., co-sponsored provisions of the legislation that closes loopholes that once allowed substances marketed as "bath salts" and "research chemicals" to be sold online, thereby circumventing state laws. These chemicals could be then modified into potent and toxic concoctions that mimic the effects of marijuana, cocaine, LSD or methamphetamine.

The Combating Designer Drugs Act, part of the broader Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, outlaws the sale of nine substances, including a synthetic hallucinogen known as 2C-E, which killed 19-year-old Trevor Robinson, of Blaine, and hospitalized at least 10 other Minnesotans last year.

"In Minnesota and across the country, we are seeing more and more tragedies where synthetic drugs are taking lives and tearing apart families," Klobuchar said in statement announcing the law's signing.

It's our hope the law will give authorities the tools to rein in the spread of synthetic drugs, such as Spice, K2, Bliss and a host other innocuous-sounding slang names, and we commend Klobuchar for championing this important legislation.