‘Bath salts’ becoming local problem

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The names can be soothing — Serenity Now, Ivory Wave, Aura, Lady Bubbles, Bolivian Bath, Ivory Fresh, White Dove, Pure White — but the names are deliberately misleading, since “bath salts” are not only not to be used in the bathtub, but are some of the most dangerous substances being abused here in Van Wert County and across the country.

Bath salts use has rapidly increased this year in the United States after law enforcement officers first began seeing a trickle of cases in late 2010. Before that, the substance, also marketed as “plant food,” “fertilizer,” or “insect repellent,” was pretty much unheard of.

The primary  chemicals in bath salts are methylenedeioxypryrovalerone (MDPV) and mephedrone. Both are  synthetic, with MDPV first created back in 1929 in France, where it was originally used in laboratory testing. There are no medically approved uses. Abuse of the drug reportedly began after 2003, when an underground chemist discovered the formula for the drug and published it online.

The chemicals in bath salts are related in structure to illegal substances such as ecstasy, cathinone and methamphetamine and have similar effects when taken.

Bath salts are sold in specialty stores, gas stations and on the Internet, and typically come in 50-250mg packets for between $20 and $40 a packet. The drug can be ingested (eaten or mixed in water bottles and drunk), snorted, smoked or injected.

“They say that this stuff is unbelievable as far as the hallucinations it causes … terrible hallucinations,” says City DARE Officer Greg Blackmore, who added that users in the area say they see monsters, demons and other nightmarish visions after taking bath salts.

Local EMS squads are also having to deal with the symptoms of bath salts users, with most local medics resorting to treating external symptoms and keeping users from hurting themselves until the symptoms are gone.

The substance presents several problems for law enforcement officers, with the main one being the fact that the drugs have not yet been banned in Ohio. Those selling the substance also label it as “not for human consumption” or “novelty only” to get around current state regulations.

Bath salts also cannot be detected by standard drug screens, but only through testing for specific chemicals that are not the same in the various bath salt concoctions.

While similar in chemical makeup to ecstasy and meth, bath salts also have similar effect on the body, but are said to be even more intense than those illegal drugs. Bath salts’ also mimic the symptoms of bipolar episodes, with extreme highs and lows, with users sometimes altering moods in seconds.

Other symptoms include increased alertness and awareness, high mental stimulation, increased sociability, high sexual stimulation (aphrodisiac effect), paranoia (may last for days and may be permanent, even after one use), rapid heartbeat, suicidal thoughts, agitation, confusion, hypertension, vomiting, hyperthermia, shortness of breath, heart attacks, headaches, blurred vision, kidney failure, nose bleeds and swelling of the brain, which can cause strokes, seizures or put people into a coma.

The drug also creates increased cravings when people start to come down off a high, creating an intense need for the drug before the symptoms have even dissipated much. That also leads to the type of bingeing seen with drugs such as methamphetamine.

“The instantaneous craving for more, even though they remember, even though they know that was the stupidest, craziest, most dangerous thing they’ve ever done, they want it again,” Blackmore said. “Their bodies have to have the stuff.”

The city DARE officer said users also seem to be much more violent when they’re on the drug.

“They’re downright scary when you look at them,” Blackmore said of the symptoms people see when people use bath salts.

He said use of the drug has already been blamed for a shooting in Mercer County where a husband shot his wife in the hand because he thought there were monsters trying to get him. An incident in Lima where a 19-year-old girl killed her 4-year-old sister is also thought to have been caused by bath salts.

Meanwhile, states are starting to enact legislation to deal with the dangers of bath salts, although those manufacturing the drug are changing the formula of their products to try and stay ahead of legislation banning bath salts.

As of July 1, it will be illegal to sell or possess bath salts in Indiana, while the Ohio General Assembly is also looking at legislation that would do the same thing.

Blackmore said local law enforcement agencies are currently charging those using the drug under existing legislation that bans abuse of harmful intoxicants – a law that also deals with “huffing” — breathing in hallucinogenic chemicals found in aerosol cans to get a high. The city DARE officer said the problem is similar since both bath salts and aerosol can chemicals are legal.

The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor and carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Second offenses and those succeeding that are felony counts.

Local law enforcement officers say they’re not aware of any store in Van Wert County that sells bath salts, although it’s possible that a store in Delphos still does.

The best tool to fight the drug, the DEA believes, is education: getting more information out to the public so that parents who see little packets of chemicals labeled with names such as those above will know their kids are not interested in smelling better in the bathtub, but in getting high with a drug that could kill them — or lead to them killing someone else.

People also need to know how serious the problems are that come with the drug.