BATH SALTS
These aren’t your average bath salts that you pour into the tub – these so-called “bath salts” are intended to be snorted, swallowed, smoked or injected – and users are getting high off them. These “bath salts” are powerful synthetic stimulants, producing similar effects to Ecstasy, Amphetamine and Cocaine. Side effects range from increased heart rate, vomiting, confusion, agitation, violent outbursts, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts.
The powdered packet of “bath salts’ are being sold as Cloud Nine, Ivory Snow, Ivory Wave, Hurricane Charlie, White Lightning, and Vanilla Sky. Websites that sell these concentrated “bath salts” never intend them for the tub. They are readily available at various internet shops, street dealers, concerts, gasoline stations, and head shops. It has been reported that “bath salts” are also being sold as plant food, insecticides, and pond scum cleaners. For $15 to $25 a pack, a high only lasts a few minutes but the addiction and cravings have been reported as intense.
Poison control centers around the country have fielded thousands of calls relating to “bath salts”. The United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries have already banned them. At the federal level, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has proposed to add the chemical ingredients Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and Mephedrone to the list of federally controlled substances. In December 2010, the DEA issued a warning about the use of “bath salts”, but they still remain legal at the federal level and in states that have not specifically prohibited them.
The problem with any new designer drug is that enterprising chemist can stay ahead of drug laws by tinkering with molecules to “morph” the chemicals into something new, and “bingo, it’s no longer illegal. This adds to the process to ban any new street drug. In fact, sellers of the drug describe them as “bath salts” because it is legal to sell the compound with the warning “Not for Human Consumption”. Of those who have purchased “bath salts”, 97% said that it was very easy to obtain.
A Stimulant Designer Urine Drug Test utilizing Liquid Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS) technology is now available to test for the main ingredients, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and Mephedrone.
Please call Friends Medical Laboratory at 1-800-875-4797 for more details and pricing.
