“Bath Salts”

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General

"Bath salts" is the commonly used term for synthetic cathinones, human-made drugs chemically related to cathinone, a stimulant found in the Khat plant. Khat is a shrub grown in East Africa and southern Arabia, and people sometimes chew its leaves for the mild stimulant effects. Synthetic variants of cathinone can be much stronger than the natural product (found in Khat). The fascinating Khat plant and its use is discussed a little further on in this article.

"Bath salts," also called "psychoactive bath salts" (PABS) comprise a number of recreational designer drugs. We discuss these various drugs below.

Bath salts are stimulants, so they fall in the same category as cocaine (Click Here) and crystal methamphetamine (Click Here). Synthetic cathinones are marketed as cheap substitutes for other stimulants, or are passed off as fake cocaine or crystal meth by dealers to rip off their customers.

Despite their street name, "bath salts" should not be confused with actual bath salts such as Epsom salts, the stuff we use in the tub. Those have no mind-altering properties, although they are pretty nice for calming the mind in a hot bath. The street name came about because they were originally sold disguised as true bath salts, and they do resemble real bath salts as well.

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As of 2011, bath salts were the sixth most commonly used drugs, after tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and Ecstasy. 

Synthetic cathinones are included in a group of drugs that public health officials refer to as "new psychoactive substances" (NPS). NPS are unregulated psychoactive (mind-altering) substances that have become newly available on the market and are intended to copy the effects of illegal drugs. Some of these substances may have been around before but have re-entered the market in altered chemical forms or due to renewed popularity.

Bath salts are thought to be made in China, in tablet or powder form. These substances are often sold over the Internet, as well as in convenience and tobacco stores, gas stations, head shops, truck stops, pawn shops, tattoo parlors, and on the street.The drug's packaging often states "not for human consumption" in an attempt to circumvent drug laws. The legal system is slowly catching up with these dangerous chemicals and their distribution. Meanwhile, they are often easier to obtain than cigarettes and alcohol.

Bath salts are sometimes referred to as "zombie" or "cannibal" because it was speculated that a person who engaged in cannibalism as part of an assault may have been intoxicated on the substance.

 Grandma doesn't look so healthy after all those bath salts.

Some of the other street names include plant food, Red Dove, Blue Silk, Vanilla Sky, Purple Wave, Ivory Wave, Bliss, White Lightning, White Dove, Super Coke, Tranquility, Zoom, and Magic. Mephedrone (see next section) also has street names like meow, drone, and meph.

Deadly substances in enticing packaging.

Different drugs are included in the category of "bath salts"

"Bath Salts" comprise a number of different chemicals, which are sold alone or in combination. All of them are chemically similar to amphetamines, cocaine, and MDMA.

Bath salts contain some form of a synthetic cathinone, typically MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone), methylone, or mephedrone. Sometimes seen are pyrovalerone or pipradrol. However, the chemical composition varies widely due to amateurish production and cutting with various impurities. In Europe the main synthetic cathinone is mephedrone, whereas in the US MDPV is more common. They are all synthetic stimulants with different chemical structures but similar effects on the user.

MDPV is a designer drug that's been around since 2007 and today is a dangerously abused drug around the world. Today this product is sold as Bath Salts and is referred to on the street as "Ivory Wave" and "Energy 1." MDPV is the most common synthetic cathinone found in patients admitted to emergency departments after taking "bath salts."

One bath salt, referred to as "Cosmic Blast" or sometimes as "synthetic cocaine," contains MDPV and Naphyrone. Naphyrone, like the rest of the bath salts, is a synthetic stimulant.

Bath Salts and the law

A majority of states have made a number of the active ingredients in bath salts illegal on the state level, and the US federal government has made MDPV illegal due to the drug's tendency to cause psychosis and violence in users. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) now lists a number of the active ingredients found in bath salts as schedule I drugs, meaning they are illegal because they are understood to have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in the United States, and no accepted safe use.

In July 2012, US federal drug policy was amended to ban bath salts. The drug policy of Canada since the fall of 2012 categorizes MDPV as a schedule I controlled substance, placing it in the same category as heroin and MDMA. Mephedrone and methylone are already illegal in Canada and most of the US. In the United Kingdom, all synthetic cathinones were made illegal in April 2010.

Effects on the brain

Very little is known about how bath salts interact with the brain and how they are metabolised by the body. These chemicals have no medical use whatsoever, so they haven't been well studied. They are similar to other stimulants - such as amphetamines, MDMA ("ecstacy"), and cocaine - in that they cause stimulant, euphoric, and addictive effects by increasing the concentration of the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine in the brain (see "The Brain in Addiction" Click Here).

Bath salts have a powerful addictive potential and can increase users' tolerance.

The signs and symptoms of bath salts intoxication include:

• feeling euphoric ("high"),
• sexually stimulated,
• thinking one is more focused, and
• having high energy levels for two to four hours after taking the drug.

Those symptoms tend to be followed by feeling very let down for several hours to days thereafter.

Side effects

In the US, the number of calls to poison centers concerning "bath salts" rose from 304 in 2010 to 6,138 in 2011, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

Possible side effects and complications of even low doses of bath salts abuse include:

• rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, heart attack
• dilated pupils
• psychosis: especially intense hallucinations, and paranoia
• anxiety and agitation
• cold extremities due to constricted blood flow
• kidney and liver damage
• rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of muscle tissue leading to lethal toxins in the blood)
• headache, nausea, dehydration
• severe high body temperature, causing dehydration, seizures, or brain damage.

Violent behavior, wildly unpredictable acts of violence, self-mutilation, and suicide are commonly see. Often this is brought on by the psychosis. Risk of psychosis is highest when the user is sleep deprived, using high doses, or using frequently. The psychosis and agitation can outlast the high, lasting for days.

An example of the psychosis that's experienced happened to a man that barricaded himself in the attic with a rifle wanting to kill monsters before the monsters killed him. Another bath salts user wanted to remove her liver with a mechanical pencil. Even though the 'trips' are miserable and uncomfortable for many people that use bath salts, people say the cravings for repeated use are very intense which causes some people to use the hallucinogenic bath salts again.

Khat

Khat is a flowering plant native to the hot, dry areas of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Khat contains natural cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant. In the areas where the plant grows, Khat chewing has a history dating back thousands of years, much like the use of coca leaves in South America and betel nut in Asia. Chewing Khat predates the use of coffee and is used in a similar social context. Traditionally, Khat is used as a social drug as in Yemen where khat-chewing is predominantly a male habit. However, many Khat chewers are addicted and chew it all day long.

 Chewing Khat is a widespread habit in areas where it is grown. They jam a lot of it in all at once, as you can see.

Anyone who has seen the Tom Hanks movie Captain Phillips may recall that the Somali pirates were frequently chewing on leafy sticks, and when they ran out of those leafy sticks they got very agitated, upset and physically sick. That was Khat, and they were withdrawing when they ran out.

Khat is classified as a drug of abuse that can produce dependence. It is a controlled substance in some countries (including Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.) while its production, sale, and consumption are legal in other countries, especially the countries where it grows.

Khat is a slow-growing shrub or tree that typically attains a height between 3 and 16 feet. However, it can reach heights of up to 33 feet in equatorial areas. It has evergreen leaves, which are 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. The shrub produces small white flowers and a fruit called samara fruit.


Its fresh leaves and tops are chewed or, less frequently, dried and consumed as tea, to achieve a state of euphoria and stimulation; it also has anorectic (appetite-reducing) side effects. The leaves or the soft part of the stem can be chewed with either chewing gum or fried peanuts to make it easier to chew. In recent years there has been increased global distribution of this perishable commodity, and as a result, the plant has been reported around the world. Khat is so popular in Yemen, its cultivation consumes much of the country's agricultural resources. An estimated 40% of the country's water supply goes towards irrigating Khat cops. One reason for the widespread cultivation of Khat in Yemen is the high income it provides for farmers, up to five times higher than food crops. It is also in high demand, as many addicts provide a captive market.

The traditional form of Khat chewing in Yemen involves only male users; Khat chewing by females is less formal and less frequent. Researchers estimate about 70–80% of Yemenis between 16 and 50 years old chew Khat, at least on occasion. Approximately 60% of male and 35% of female Yeminis chew khat daily. Researchers have also estimated that families spend about 17% of their income on Khat.

So, that's Khat - natural cathinone. Now, let's get back to our discussion on "bath salts" - synthetic cathinone.

Treating Bath Salts addiction

Users have reported that the drugs trigger intense cravings—uncontrollable urges to use the drug again. Taking synthetic cathinones cause strong withdrawal symptoms that include:

• depression
• anxiety
• tremors
• problems sleeping
• paranoia

No medications are currently available to treat addiction to synthetic cathinones. The only available treatment is medical detoxification followed by addiction treatment See "Recovery Programs" Click Here).



Reference:
NIDA. (2016, January 6). Synthetic Cathinones ("Bath Salts"). Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/synthetic-cathinones-bath-salts on 2017, December 10