Bath salts: Effects and damage

It is now an open secret that bath salts have been causing havoc all over the United States. Latest incident of a cannibal man eating up a person’s ear and lips, confirm that the cannibal man was high on bath salts. Now let’s have a look at what bath salt really is and what can it do.

According to Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, bath salts are an emerging and dangerous product. Bath salts contain amphetamine-like chemicals such as methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), mephedrone, and pyrovalerone. They’re referred to as a “designer drug of the phenethylamine class” by the Drug Enforcement Administration. When this drug enters the brain, it causes effects such as feelings of empathy, stimulation, alertness, euphoria, sensory awareness and hallucinations. Secondly there is no possible way to determine whether a person is high on bath salts or not. Unlike alcohol sensing technology it cannot be easily determined. The only way one can know if someone has taken them is if they tell you they have.

As bath salts are also known for increasing the blood pressure, therefore the drug along with hallucinations result in aggressive behavior. This is also one of the reasons that the bizarre action of Miami’s cannibal man is related to bath salts.

Although DEA, has approved a ban on the three main ingredients used in bath salts but they are still waiting for a permanent ban on these ingredients. The DEA also fears that there can be more cases of people high on bath salts and it is only the matter of time until they are reported by the media.

Meanwhile, if the bath salts are not permanently banned, the makers and vendors will find new ways of distributing them on high and easy scale. As the drug can be easily mixed in various eating and drinking products, its use can increase.

Many law enforcing agencies have proposed strict punishments for bath salts suppliers. Severe punishments like death penalty and life time imprisonment has been proposed by these agencies. The police department believes that if the drug distribution is not blocked at this stage, there will be a sharp increase in its use. Thus it is imperative for both the congressmen and the federal agencies to impose a permanent ban on bath salts all over United States.