North Country Sen. Joseph Griffo says a new law he co-sponsored will ban the synthetic drug “N-Bomb” that he says is designed to mimic the effects of LSD.

N-Bomb, also known as “Smiles” or 25i-NBOMe, first surfaced in 2013, according to Griffo. He says it has been linked to the overdose deaths of at least 17 people nationwide.

A new bill recently signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will now ban several of the key ingredients contained in this designer drug, which mimics the hallucinogenic effects of LSD, Griffo said.

Targeted toward teenagers, this potentially deadly psychedelic drug continues to rise in popularity because it is easily accessible. But because N-Bomb is chemically manufactured, its potency varies widely which increases the risk of overdose when someone uses a greater amount of N-Bomb than they had intended. As such, it is difficult to predict how someone may react to the substances, with some harrowing side effects including seizures, psychotic episodes, loss of consciousness and bleeding from the brain.

By banning N-Bomb’s key ingredients, this a similar strategy that helped nearly obliterate the frenzy of psychotic episodes and life emergencies that reached epidemic proportions in Central New York and beyond in 2012 when the synthetic drug known as “bath salts” was allowed to reach widespread use.

“No community should ever have to endure the kind of tragedy and havoc that can occur when the unpredictable effects of synthetic drugs are allowed to infiltrate our neighborhoods. Our unfortunate experience with bath salts several years ago taught us how important aggressive action is in getting this scourge under control, so I am glad this legislation will help us be proactive in preventing a similar synthetic drug crisis from happening again,” Griffo said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration added the chemicals used to manufacture N-Bomb to its permanent list of controlled substances as a Schedule I drug on Nov. 15, 2013. This law adds these chemicals to the state’s banned substances list.