A brand new club drug called “bath salt” has become very popular among young people who are looking for a cheap and quick high. Poison control centers all over the country have reported a growing number of calls regarding this synthetic stimulant. More and more states are banning the drug, however, there is currently no federal law in place prohibiting its sale. This drug can lead to major health issues and anyone addicted to it should seek help immediately.
Classification
Don’t be thrown off by the name as these bath salts are not the sort you would use to soak in the tub with. The presumption in the medical community is that bath salts are MDPV, or methylenedioxypyrovalerone, and are being manufactured by illegal street chemists with derivatives of pyrovalerone. However, nobody truly knows what is in bath salts because there is no way to test for these substances in a lab setting.
Retail
Retailers are marketing the drug as bath salts and labeling them as “not safe for human consumption”. This is in order to avoid them being classified as illegal. They can be bought at local mini-marts and smoke shops around the world under sold under names like Ivory Wave and Bolivian Bath. While many states have banned the sale, ultimately it will have to be a federal law that gets them off the shelves and out of the hands of the population.
Enforcement Policy
The government would have to say bath salts are a schedule 1 drug to make them illegal. Schedule 1 means the drug has no medicinal value and has a high likelihood for abuse. The United States Drug Enforcement Agency has recently invoked its “emergency scheduling authority” to speed up this process. The DEA plans to make it so the possession and selling of bath salts illegal in the United States. This action will stay in effect for at least one year, during which the government is expected to call for permanent ban.
Effects
There are many different side effects that a person can experience by using bath salts. Some of the most common side effects of bath salt usage are agitation, paranoia, and severe chest pain. There is also a high probability of heart issues including increased heightened pulse rate and high blood pressure. It is a fair and accurate comparison to say that the side effects of bath salts are similar to the side effects of cocaine or ecstasy.
There has not been conclusive research on the designer drug yet to define what long-term effects it can have on an individual. Today, acute toxicity is the main problem being faced by doctors. If you think you may be dependent on this new drug you should find a young adult drug treatment program as soon as possible.