LEGAL DRUG KNOWN AS "BATH SALTS" CAN HAVE DANGEROUS EFFECTS

After snorting a designer drug known as "bath salts," a local
17-year-old - referred to in this article as John - became highly
paranoid and agitated. He was convinced someone was trying to kill
him.

"I got a call from his girlfriend - screaming - saying, 'You need to
get here right away,'" said the boy's mother, referred to in this
article as Anne Griffin to protect her son's identity.

"I went to where he was and he was very paranoid and thought people
were watching him. He had binoculars and he said he had to kill
somebody if they jumped over the fence. He made absolutely no sense,
so I called 911 because I didn't know if my son was in a psychotic
state."

That is when Griffin first learned of the existence of "bath
salts."

"Then his girlfriend told me he had used 'bath salts.' She said they
had been using it on the weekends and it gives you a high and makes
you euphoric and happy."

"Bath salts," sold under such brand names as Ivory Wave or Vanilla
Sky, can easily be obtained at most area liquor stores and smoke
shops. The Yuma Sun was able to purchase the substance from a local
liquor store recently for $15 without any problem or delay.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, "bath salts"
can contain the drug methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), as well as
mephedrone. Both are synthetic central nervous system stimulants
similar to methamphetamine and cocaine.

"Bath salts" can be eaten, smoked, snorted or injected. The high
produced is akin to that of cocaine, meth or Ecstacy, the DEA reported.

"'Bath salts' have nothing to do with a spa or relaxation or anything
like that," said Ramona Sanchez, DEA special agent and public
information officer.

"When people buy it at the store, at a wink of the eye they know it is
not going to be used for a bath."

Because it is marketed with a label stating "not for human
consumption," it is able to skirt around drug laws and remain
technically legal.

It has to be intended for human use to become a federal violation.
Only then could it be considered an "analog" imitation drug, which can
be considered illegal, Sanchez explained.

"Right now there is not a whole lot on the state side of enforcement,"
said Sgt. Clint Norred, Yuma Police Department public information
officer. "There are a couple of codes we could probably apply in very
specific circumstances."

Those include causing a criminal nuisance or imitation drug charges,
he said.

"These are very rarely used. It would have to be specifically outlined
for us to use something like that."

Making "bath salts" even more attractive is the fact there are
currently no drug tests to detect it in a user.

That made it impossible for Griffin to know John was abusing the drug
even though she instinctively knew something was terribly wrong.

"He wasn't going to school - he was ditching. He was always a good
student and athlete, but he quit his athletics, so of course I
suspected drug use. I took a urinalysis test and it was negative
because 'bath salts' do not show up."

Then suddenly, within minutes of hearing about "bath salts" for the
first time, Griffin had to rush her son to the emergency room after
the psychotic episode.

"The hospital doctor didn't even know what the heck I was talking
about," she said.

But before they could treat him, John decided to run away from the ER
as fast as he could.

"I ran after him with the ER nurse," Griffin said. "I was literally
jumping fences, but by then we lost him. We couldn't find him for two
days. He totally disappeared."

He came home two days later and slept for two days, Griffin said. She
then took him to a psychiatrist, who had to scramble to learn about
the drug in an effort to help him stay sober.

It didn't work and John soon relapsed. Griffin received another phone
call from John's girlfriend, who said he was driving 120 mph on the
highway with his eyes closed.

Griffin raced out to the Foothills area, where John was at, to
confront him.

"He was psychotic again and I couldn't get him in the car with me to
go to the hospital," Griffin said, adding she feared he might have
overdosed and was on the verge of death.

"I called 911 and an ambulance responded. He took off running through
the desert and we couldn't find him for another day again."

By now, John hadn't slept, eaten or drank anything in three days,
Griffin said.

"When we found him, he still refused to go to the hospital. He looked
bad. I took his blood pressure - it was 220 over 120 with a pulse of
176 and his heart rate was very irregular."

Griffin, a trained nurse, knew her son needed immediate medical
attention, "but he kept refusing so I actually called the police."

When an officer arrived, John tried again to flee. As a result, more
police were called in to handle the situation.

"Pretty soon there were 10 cop cars there and it took over 10 people
to hold my son down," Griffin said.

This time around, with the help of police, John was taken to the
hospital and treated. He has not abused "bath salts" since, his mother
said, but now might suffer from permanent pulmonary hypertension
caused by the drug.

"My son now has high blood pressure and has to be on medication for
it."

In addition to medical problems, John, a senior at Gila Ridge High
School, may not get to graduate this month with his fellow classmates.

"It made him just blow off everything in life," Griffin said. "All
drugs do that to people, but this drug - you can walk in the store and
buy it."

Fortunately, incidents such as the one concerning John have not yet
become a common occurrence in the Yuma area, Norred said. However, YPD
is aware of the substance and is keeping close watch.

For now, even though the drug remains available, the DEA is looking
into the matter, Sanchez said.

"I can tell you it has sounded our alarms. The DEA has labeled this a
drug of concern. For us, there is a lengthy process to restrict these
types of designer chemicals, including reviewing the abuse data. We
need to gather all that data and start to collect it, and this could
be a very lengthy process."