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Not your “grandma’s
bath salt”
By Bob Robinson
6/18/11
Wikipedia: The term bath salts refers to a range of water-soluble,
usually inorganic solid products designed to be added to a bath. They
are said to improve cleaning, improve the experience of bathing, serve
as a vehicle for cosmetic agents, and some even claim medical benefits.
State Sen. Keith Faber told members and guests at the monthly Darke
Country Republican Mens Club meeting Saturday morning that the “bath
salts” emerging as a new drug of preference around the country are not
your “traditional” bath salts that grandma used for bathing.
“It’s more like PCP or other hallucinogenic drugs,” he said. “It’s sold
in vials in places like convenience stores.”
A Business Week story in February said the drug is referred to by
gentle-sounding names like Ivory Wave and Vanilla Sky and is typically
snorted, smoked, injected and even mixed with water as a beverage.
"If you take the very worst of some of the other drugs -- LSD and
Ecstasy with their hallucinogenic-delusional type properties, PCP with
extreme agitation, superhuman strength and combativeness, as well as
the stimulant properties of cocaine and meth -- if you take all the
worst of those and put them all together this is what you get. It's
ugly," said Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana Poison Center.
No one had heard of it in 2009. Its first appearance was last year with
236 reports.
Faber said it the drug is currently legal in Ohio, but not for long. A
ban of the drug has been included in the Budget Bill and will go into
effect 90 days after being signed into law.
The following story from CBS News provides additional details:
February 1, 2011 1:01 PM
DEA Names “Bath Salts” a
Drug of Concern
By CBSNews
(CBS) There’s a new designer drug that’s raising alarm with
authorities around the country. It’s referred to as “bath salts,” but
it’s really a dangerous stimulant with effects akin to cocaine or meth.
While relatively unheard of just a couple of years ago, its use is on
the rise and it’s believed to have caused at least four deaths around
the country.
So what exactly are these new drugs -- and just how dangerous are they?
CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained these
substances are not about spas or baths.
Special Section: Dr.
Jennifer Ashton
Dr. Jennifer Ashton’s Twitter page
She explained, “The name sounds harmless. In reality, they are anything
but harmless. These contain a designer or synthetic drug, mephedrone or
MDPV. It’s an amphetamine. They’re marketed as bath salts and you can
find them online or in stores under names like Zoom 2 or Aura. Our
producer found them very easily in New York City. When she asked for
them, she was told, ‘Wow, they’re flying off the shelves. It’s a good
thing you’re getting these.’”
Hill added, “One of our researchers was told these will get you really
high.”
But what exactly do they do?
Ashton said, “It’s a central nervous system stimulant, so it will
increase your blood pressure, increase your heart rate, can cause
anything from chest pain, heart attack, stroke. Those are just the
physical symptoms. Some psychological (symptoms include) delusions,
paranoia, psychosis. They’re highly addictive, very dangerous.”
Ashton noted these substances have been reported to the Poison Control
Centers by 33 states.
“Part of the reason why this has gone undetected and under the radar up
until now is because they’re relatively new. And if you look it at the
numbers in 2009, there were no reported cases to Poison Control Centers
in this country. (In 2010,) that number jumped to 236. This year alone,
we’ve ready surpassed that with 248 cases. And remember, that’s just
what’s reported.”
Hill asked why there isn’t more control on these substances.
Ashton replied, “I guarantee you there will be. In fact the (Drug
Enforcement Agency) DEA has already labeled these drugs a drug of
concern. And there is legislation occurring right now to make them
controlled substances. Again, these things take time. You just see
those that time period, two years is 24 months, and for the DEA to
start investigate a drug, they first need to hear reported cases, then
they need to get their scientific medical communities, as well as legal
ducks in a row, if you will, and that takes time. But this is by no
mistake a dangerous substance and we probably will be hearing a lot
more about it.”
But this isn’t the only substance that is of concern, according to
Ashton.
“This is just one in a growing list of substances readily available
online or in stores,” she said. “Just because they may come there
synthetic substances or natural substances does not mean they are safe.
They are potentially life-threatening.”
Read it or view video at CBS News
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