BATH SALT CASES INCREASE

Bath salts are gaining in popularity across the country.

But these aren't the relaxing, fragrant salts you pour in bath water
after a long day.

They more resemble cocaine and methamphetamine.

"This is definitely problematic," said Gaylord Lopez, the director of
the Georgia Poison Center. "This is one of those dangerous drugs out
there that aren't detectable in drug tests."

4-Methylmethcathinone is a designer drug marketed as a bath salt,
research chemical or plant fertilizer "not for human
consumption."

"It was never, ever intended to be put in a bath," Lopez said. "I
guess the original folks who marketed it must have come up with that
benign use for it."

They're sold over the Internet and in smoke shops under names such as
Ivory Wave, Cloud-9, White Dove and Ocean Wave for as little as $20.

An Augusta mother contacted The Augusta Chronicle after her son spent
some time in intensive care after using the bath salts.

The mother later backed-out of an interview over safety
concerns.

Natalie Lane, the medical director at Medical College of Georgia
Children's Medical Center Emergency Department, recalled a mother
bringing her child in to be examined after catching her using the drugs.

"One of our challenges is that it isn't something we're really
knowledgeable about," Lane said.

Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. Allan Rollins said he hasn't heard a
lot about these drugs in Augusta because they're still legal.

A bill to ban sale or possession of the drug passed the Georgia House
of Representatives on March 8 by a 150-9 margin.

House Bill 199 is headed to the Senate.

The most common users of the bath salts, which have been nicknamed
"Meow Meow" by some users, are men ages 15-24 in urban areas who
frequent clubs, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The drug is snorted, smoked or injected and causes side effects such
as increased blood pressure and heart rate, chest pain, stroke,
seizure, delusions, paranoia, hallucinations and suicidal tendencies.

The bath salts began appearing in the United States after wreaking
havoc in Europe with teens dying from their effects.

In 2009, the Poison Control System saw no cases of the drug in the
U.S., according to Lopez. In 2010, there were 240. In the first few
months of 2011, there were about 250.

"In the last month, (Georgia has) gotten half a dozen or more calls,"
Lopez said, "so we're definitely contributing to those numbers."

Users of the drugs are using Facebook groups to discuss their
experiences under "cat user" group names such as "Meow Meow."

"It's a never ending battle with the literally hundreds of new
chemicals they come up with all the time," Rollins said.

Georgia just voted in 2010 to ban five chemicals used to produce
synthetic marijuana, known as K2 or spice.

The DEA-developed plan to outlaw the sale of those five chemicals took
effect March 1.