Albany, NY -- The state Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to ban using embalming fluid as a recreational drug.

By a 61-0 vote, senators voted to make it a misdemeanor to possess embalming with the intent to inhale it, ingest it or sell it to someone to do so.

“The increased use of embalming fluid with other drugs has become a public safety issue in Central New York,” said state Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, who sponsored the bill.

Embalming fluid is combined with the hallucinogen phencyclidine, also known as PCP, and used to coat marijuana cigarettes, according to experts.

Marijuana cigarettes soaked in embalming fluid have been linked to several crimes in Central New York in recent years, including a hit-and-run crash in which a driver high on drugs ran over two people in Syracuse and a home invasion in 2005 in Oswego County in which an entire family, including a 5-year-old child, was held at gunpoint.

“We are seeing a spike in violence in our community due to embalming fluid,” said Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler in a release. “By making it illegal, we are empowering law enforcement to take a proactive approach to getting the drug off our streets,” he said.

The Senate vote is only the first step to making the bill a law. The Assembly would need to pass the same bill and the governor would need to sign it.

Assemblyman William Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, is the sponsor of an identical bill in the Assembly. It is currently in the Codes Committee, Magnarelli said Tuesday afternoon. “I think the prospects are pretty good,” he said. “I’m very hopeful.”

While embalming-fluid-soaked cigarettes are an issue locally, a spokesperson for the National Funeral Directors Association said it has not been an issue nationally. Funeral directors buy their embalming fluid, which is used to preserve bodies after death, directly from manufacturers, she said.

Contact Charles McChesney at cmchesney@syracuse.com .