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Bath Salts Drug

January 16, 2012 by · Comments Off on Bath Salts Drug 

Bath Salts DrugBath Salts Drug, The New Orleans doctors gave her antibiotics and diagnosed her with a skin infection. While things seemed to be getting better, two days later, she went back to the hospital because the swelling had returned. At that time, the New Orleans woman admitted to injecting “bath salts” at a party she attended. Not just typical bath salts, these are drugs that contain several synthetic chemicals, including mephedrone and MDPV, short for methylenedioxypyrovalerone, that give a stimulant high similar to meth or cocaine.

Doctors cut the New Orleans woman’s forearm open and discovered an infection and dead muscle. As they cut further up her arm, trying to find healthy tissue, they could see the infection moving so fast that they could see the flesh dying before them. The doctors had to amputate the New Orleans woman’s arm to stop the infection from reaching her entire body. They also perform a radical mastectomy and skin grafts.

The New Orleans woman has survived, but the “bath salts” are still a growing drug trend. Until recently, most people have snorted or smoked the bath salts drug, but having it injected gives a quicker, stronger high.

The drug has been marketed under “bath salts” or “plant food” and has also been called Vanilla Sky, Ivory Wave, White Lightning, Purple Wave, Bliss, Pump it Powder, and Hurricane Charlie. A small 50-milligram packet is sold for $25 to $50 at convenience stores.

The Drug Enforcement Administration does not regulate these substances, but they are under federal scrutiny, as the effects of these salts are comparable to methamphetamine abuse. Poison control centers around the country received 3,470 calls about bath salts from January through June 2011, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, up from 303 in all of 2010.

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