Sold in headshops and on the grey market, “spice” or K2 is a way to get high while avoiding showing up on a drug test. Whether or not they’re legal to sell or use is unclear. Today, sub host Chali Pittman is talking about the complicated world of synthetic drugs, and how a 1980s law called the Analogue Act has been used to lock up manufacturers operating in the open.

It’s a part of the law that begs the question – do you have a right to know that something is illegal before you’re arrested, charged, and sentenced?

Jordan S. Rubin joins us on his new book Bizarro: The Surreal Saga of America’s Secret War on Synthetic Drugs and the Florida Kingpins it Captured. It tells the story  of the unprecedented prosecution of Burton Ritchie and Ben Galecki, who were running a huge synthetic cannabinoid operation, but claim they didn’t know it was illegal.

Jordan S. Rubin is a journalist and former prosecutor for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he was assigned to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. He writes MSNBC’s Deadline: Legal Blog and was previously a legal reporter for Bloomberg.

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