On July 22, 2011 Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed
a law that made it illegal to possess or distribute the synthetic drug called
bath salts. Illinois was the eleventh state to make the drug illegal.
Methylenedioxypyrovalerone; known as MDPV, or on the street as bath salts, was
previously sold in convenient marts and tobacco stores and you only had to be
eighteen years old to buy it. This drug gives a hallucinogenic high similar to methamphetamine
or ecstasy and is very deadly and addictive even after only one use. It can
also produce hallucinations, suicidal thoughts and psychotic behavior. Bath
salts can be abused through snorting, injecting, ingesting or smoking. The side
effects include agitation, paranoia and chest pains, high heart rate, high
blood pressure, and overheating which can all lead to death. “The American
Association of Poison Control Centers reported more than 3,740 bath salt
related calls to their centers between January and July 2011. That's more than
ten times the calls they fielded relating to the substances in all of 2010.”
When
people first began coming into the emergency rooms high on bath salts, the
doctors and medical professional were at a loss because they had no idea what
it was or what they were dealing with. There were no tests to test for bath
salts to find out what these people, who were coming into the emergency rooms
by the dozens, were on. These individuals were described at psychotic, wacky,
off the wall, and completely out of touch with reality. Mark Ryan Director of the
Poison Control Center in Louisiana states:
There
are intense hallucinations. Voices. Paranoia. We've seen a number of cases in
which people have started shooting their house because they can't get rid of
the voices. There was one report where the man was barricaded in the attic with
a gun because he thought there were monsters downstairs. He said he would kill
them before they had a chance to attack his family. Another who cut himself up
trying to "remove the wires" from his arms. It's not unusual for them
to start seeing demons, aliens, for them to believe law enforcement is after
them -- that armies are coming to harm them. It's intense paranoia. A fear that
things around them -- even people they know or love -- are going to try to hurt
them.
The possession of bath salts is now a felony
offense. Bath salts are now considered a controlled substance, which carries a minimum
penalty of a Class 4 felony for which the offender can be sentenced to a 1 to 3
year prison sentence and also be forced to pay a fine of up to $25,000. By
marketing them as bath salts and labeling them 'not for human consumption, they
have been able to avoid them being specifically seen as illegal. State law
makers in Maine have banned 21 components of the drug to date and are working
to federally ban the main three components. By altering just one molecule it
changes the name and that is how manufacturers and stores are getting away with
still producing and selling the drug. Law enforcement officials are definitely going
to have their hands full trying to keep this drug off the streets and dealing
with people who are high on it going crazy and committing crimes.
I did not hear about this substance until a couple months ago when I was checking out random YouTube videos. I watched a video of a guy who was allegedly high on bath salts and was absolutely freaking out in the back of a squad car. The suspect was mumbling random words when an officer would ask him a question and he looked like he was in a totally different planet. It is good bath salts are illegal because, from what I saw in that video, the substance is nothing but bad. In the past couple years there has been an increase in "synthetic drugs" that mimic other drugs but are technically legal because they say "Not for human consumption," but the actual purpose for these products is for people to consume and get high off of them. In my opinion, these synthetic drugs are more harmful than the drugs they are made to mimic.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me to see how far people will go to get high. I didn't know about bath salts until about a year ago and I didn't know that they were about to be illegal. I see now that drug abusers will go to great lengths to get high or use anything to get high.
ReplyDeleteI intern at the McLean County States Attorneys office. I've seen hard core drug users swear off bath salts as "bad stuff." While it was legal it was a serious problem. I've also seen cases where it directly influence the behavior of someone committing a crime. Designer drugs are bad news and can be more dangerous than drugs that have been made illegal. The paranoia described by the post is not exaggerated based off what I've seen and read.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time hearing about this drug. This kind of reminds me of the big K2 and synthetic marijuana craze that happened recently. Now all of those drugs are illegal to possess and use and I believe are also a Class 4 felony. Like Alan said, it also amazes me as to how far people will go to get high. They are willing to sacrifice so much just to escape reality for a short time and that escape doesn't sound like a very pleasant time anyways. I can see these synthetic drugs becoming a huge problem for law enforcement for many years to come.
ReplyDeleteThe K2 fake weed is still being sold at local head shops all over Chicago, has many different names now and still is awful for you. This is the first time im hearing about bath salts. but it certainly does not surprise me. People will go to any lengths to get a new type of high. No one thinks of the consequences at all. The thing here is these drugs are all chemically made and in my opinion are worse then the real drug they are trying to imitate. It's very smart to make possessing these drugs a felony offense, maybe this will discourage at least some people. It says not for human consumption on these bath salts just like it does the K2 spices.
ReplyDeleteI only heard of this drug as of recently and I can’t believe how popular it is. After watching the video, it really woke me up in seeing that people are willing to do anything to get high. This is super sad to hear that people who work in these shops and are saying your lucky you are here, because they fly off the shelves. I am glad though that the DEA is involved in this and I hope the numbers for 2012 deaths/ injury reports are not as high as they were in 2011.
ReplyDeleteIt is really alarming that kids try these things. And the bad thing about bath salts is that we do not know the long term side effects or what could possibly happen because of all the chemicals within it. There are a lot of new frightening things out there. Another up and coming thing is called desomorphine, or krokodil. This drug is just like meth because you cook most of the ingredients meth has, and its cheap like meth. It is said to be 4x more powerful than heroin. You shoot this stuff and it absolutely destroys tissue and causes infection. just go to Google images and type in desomorphine, look at your own risk though.
ReplyDeleteohh and for bath salts you can still get them online so it is still a threat
DeleteI heard you can still buy them online
DeleteI have heard about this topic before and find it quite comical. I really would like to meet the first person who decided to snort bath salt. What's next smoking a bar of soap? Some people will do anything to get a good high but honestly why would you want to experience these negative and dangerous side effects? One night I was at my girlfriend’s house for dinner and told her family about how people used bath salts in this way and mentioned that they were illegal. Her mother laughed and stated that she never knew why she had to order them online now. I think it is absolutely crazy the things people try to get high.
ReplyDeleteI'd heard about this before but always assumed that they were abusing actual bath salts. I literally thought they were going to Bed Bath & Beyond & getting high off the same stuff my girlfriend puts in her bathwater! It's good to see that the government reacted so quickly because it sounds like it is a serious drug.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this article I felt as if real bath salt is illegal haha but after watching the video linked I understood what you were actually talking about. That is so crazy, I never knew of anything like that before. I do not understand why people want to even use illegal drugs to get a high just does not even sound that fun to ruin your life. I'm pretty happy too on how quick the governor jumped on this to make it illegal.
ReplyDeleteIts pretty crazy what some people will do just to get high. I had no idea something like this even existed until I read this article and it is kind of scary. Who decides to try these things and figures out that they can have these kind of effects. It is even more scary that this was something anyone could easily go pick up at any store and use as long as they were over 18. I feel like something this dangerous should have never been allowed on market shelves. After watching the video, the number of people being taken to the hospital because of side effects of this drug jumped very quickly in a very short amount of time. I'm glad more states are beginning to make this illegal but I also find it shocking that it ever had to get to this point.
ReplyDeleteWow, I also can't believe how important it is for some people to go out of their way to consume this type of substance. With this type of substance being sold can be hazardous, and can harm a lot of people. Even if law enforcement takes all of these drugs off the shelves, people will always find a new way to get high. It's is frightening that most of the times anyone can buy these particular items to get high. The video represents a large amounts of people getting hospitalized over dumb decisions to try to get high for a short period of time, that could ruin their lives long term. I've always been against drug use since I was a kid and realized smoking was bad. I wish there were kids that happened to think that way too before they become older and can't get out of the horrible cycle.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me the level of harm people will cause their body in order to get “high.” It seems that people will try almost anything. I have to ask the question “What person would think to smoke or inject bath salts?” Now bath salts are a felony in Illinois? I disagree with the need to make it illegal. People will always find a way to abuse a commercial product. I don’t believe the answer is to keep banning products.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that somebody decided to post on this very important issue. Personally, I have seen a number of my friends that have experimented with these bath salts along with other types of synthetic drugs. It is mind boggling to me how somebody could ingest such a harmful chemical into their body. I have read many articles, along with yours, that suggest that these substances are much more harmful than their real counterparts. I feel that the main reason that people choose to take these drugs because of how easily available they are. I know of at least 3 stores in town that sell this product for either cheaper or the same price as the real substance. I believe that police and politics should do everything in their power to get these harmful products out of stores. It could end up saving a life one day or at least prevent somebody from health problems later in life.
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens with man made chemical drugs. Law makers are just going to have to wait until people make the most potent form of illegal bath salts before they can impose an effective ban. As soon as this ban is in effect a new drug will hit the marked and start the whole cycle again. It's a never ending cycle which shows the level of commitment some people have to getting high.
ReplyDeleteI like many other am amazed at what people will do to get high. It is crazy that people will go to this extreme to try and get a high and try to use different things as drugs. This reminds me of the Robotusin outbreak where teens were consuming cough syrup to get high or when people started getting high off of the computer duster cans prompting many stores to require buyers to be 18 to purchase.
ReplyDeleteBath Salts or SPice or whatever you want to call it is the dumbest thing you can do. Im pretty sure these have chemicals in them that are used in fertilizers and anything synthetic just sounds like a bad idea. I have heard accounts of people going crazy on this stuff and hurting themselves or others. The problem with synthetic drugs is that they can keep making the stuff but with slight changes in the formulas they can get by the law and then the legislatures have to play keep up with them. I saw this on Drugs Inc on Nat Geo and its true with small changes in the formula the substance is legal at least for a little while
ReplyDelete