State Senator Patty Ritchie will host a live telephone town hall meeting tonight to give people a chance to ask an expert about the growing problem of “bath salts,” synthetic drug compounds that are at the center if a series of increasingly bizarre and deadly incidents across the region.

The even begins at 6:35 p.m. with phone calls to homes across St. Lawrence, Oswego, and Jefferson counties. A certified drug counselor from the Jefferson County Alcohol and Substance Abuse Council, Anita Seefried-Brown, will be available for questions.

Participants in the town hall will be able to ask questions during the event, but are also invited to submit comments beforehand on a special webpage: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG5paHl5cEFOZ1FOTjd... or by visiting Ritchie’s website, www.ritchie.nysenate.gov

“Bath salts are accessible and cheap, and they have defied efforts to keep them off store shelves and out of reach of children and young people,” said Ritchie. “Their abuse is an increasingly serious problem across rural Upstate New York that has resulted in bizarre cases of violence, and even death.”

“By providing an opportunity through this town hall meeting for more people to learn about the dangers, the warning signs and ways to prevent abuse, it is my hope that we can stop this epidemic, and save lives.”