Bath salts | Addiction Treatment Strategies

Today, Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy, released the following statement following recent reports indicating the emerging threat of synthetic stimulants, including MDPV (3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone) and mephedrone.  These stimulants are often sold and marketed in stores as “bath salts” under names such as “Ivory Wave” or “Purple Wave.”
“I am deeply concerned about the distribution, sale, and use of synthetic stimulants – especially those that are marketed as legal substances.  Although we lack sufficient data to understand exactly how prevalent the use of these…

These products can spur self-destructive ‘highs’ but are legal in most states, experts warn
An influx of highly hallucinogenic, potentially lethal but — in most states — fully legal drugs sold as “bath salts” has law enforcement and drug abuse experts very concerned.
According to Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana Poison Center, in the first month of 2011, there have already been 248 bath salts-linked calls nationwide from at least 25 states, compared to 234 calls during the whole of 2010.
The $20 packets are available in corner stores, truck stops and on the Internet, and marketed as bath salts or…

The patient is a 27-year-old stock exchange worker who presents to the ED with a complaint of anxiety, chest pain, sweating, palpitations and a feeling of “paranoia and impending doom” following the recreational ingestion of “bath salts” two hours prior at a company party.
His pulse is: 120 beat/min; blood pressure: 170/100; respiratory rate: 32 breaths/min and temperature 100.7 F. He is pacing around the triage area demanding to see the “doctor in charge.”
Bath Salt Abuse
Bath salts are designer or synthetic drugs often containing amphetamine-like substances such as mephedrone, methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) which are…