LAWMAKERS IN OHIO SEEK TO BAN "BATH SALT"

A substance that unexpectedly has appeared on the shelves at tobacco
shops and drive-throughs has transformed into a trendy -- and legal --
way to get high.

But Ohio lawmakers are attempting to join at least 10 other states in
banning the substance, which is marketed as a "bath salt" but has a
different chemical composition than the aromatic salts meant to be
poured into the tub.

Bath salts are sold for up to $80 each in plastic bags the size of tea
bags and in canisters the size of a quarter with a simple warning --
"Not for consumption."

"You could go to Bath and Body Works and get a lot of bath salts for
$78. Right away, it makes you think something isn't right here," said
Heath Jolliff, associate medical director for the Central Ohio Poison
Center. "People are using this for its stimulant effects."

Licking County gas stations and convenience stores stock bath salts,
which sell for more than $20 per half gram, said Col. Chad Dennis, of
the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement Task Force.

"Hopefully, it's too expensive for it to pick up," Dennis
said.

In most cases, the bath salts contain mephedrone, a synthetic
derivative of the natural amphetamine cathinone, which provides
effects similar to those of cocaine, he said. Some bath salts have
used other derivatives as well.

Bills to ban six derivatives of cathinone were proposed in both
chambers of the Ohio legislature. The House version of the bill was
introduced to the Health and Aging committee this week, but the Senate
version likely won't be tackled until the state budget is complete.

"I think that the marketing is designed for a group of people that
understand that it's a drug. For instance, somebody like me who may
have walked into one of these stores may think it's a wonderful
present for Mother's Day, not knowing it's quite different," said
state Sen. Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati, who sponsored the Senate bill
that seeks to ban bath salts. "People who are familiar with the drug
culture would know."

Powerful effects

Emergency room patients who have taken bath salts have shown high
heart rates, hallucinations, agitation and prolonged paranoia, Jolliff
said.

"I think this drug is going to burn itself out because it's rare to
see anything on the Internet of positive effects from this," he said.
"Every case we're seeing is negative effects."

Although the CODE task force has seen instances of bath salts used in
Licking County, the majority of detectives' knowledge about their
effects comes from training and situations in other counties, Dennis
said.

In April, a Lancaster woman who was high on bath salts was taken to
the hospital after her boyfriend called police to report she was
hallucinating, and an inmate at the Wheeling Street jail attempted to
smuggle bath salts into the jail in his underwear last week, according
to a police report.

A Lancaster drive-through that sold bath salts since has stopped after
an employee was injured in a robbery to obtain more of the substance,
said Chief David Bailey, of the Lancaster Police Department.

The employee was dragged to the ground when the vehicle driven by the
bath salts theif sped away, according to a police report.

In Mansfield, law enforcement officials called a news conference this
week to educate the public about the dangers of bath salts, which have
been labeled a local epidemic.

"It appears, at least in our local experience, to provoke a violent
response," Bailey said. "Something as powerful as this, I think would
be very dangerous to take."

Earlier this year, the methamphetamine unit of the state Bureau of
Criminal Identification and Investigation was called to Delaware
County to investigate a mobile meth lab, but the driver actually was
cutting bath salts to be sold out of his trunk, said Special Agent
Scott Duff, who runs the meth unit for BCI.

Bath salts users snort, inject or ingest the powder to achieve the
high, Jolliff said.

Hospitals try to counteract the violent outbursts by rehydrating
patients, administering relaxants and, in some cases, large doses of
sedatives, Jolliff said.

Because different bath salts use varying derivatives of cathinone, the
immediate reaction is often unpredictable, he said.

Some doctors have reported some people who have taken bath salts
experience paranoia for weeks after the initial dose, although no
evidence of permanent damage has surfaced, Jolliff said.

Synthetic chemicals in bath salts do not show up on common drug
screens, and the new drug was a major topic during an American College
of Medical Toxicology conference in Washington, D.C., Jolliff said.

Rise in use

Little research has been conducted on bath salts, but Jolliff said he
expects that to change as calls to poison centers continue to increase.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers began tracking bath
salts in mid-2010 and recorded 302 cases nationwide that year. That
has spiked to 2,360 cases so far in 2011.

Poison centers in Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland reported four
cases in 2010, but that has jumped to 170 cases to date in 2011. The
Columbus poison center, which covers much of central Ohio, has had 74
cases in 2011, but saw only one in 2010.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week published one
of the first studies of emergency room visits by bath-salt users.

The report studied 35 people who had been admitted to a Michigan
hospital after using bath salts as an abusive drug and concluded that
nearly half of the patients had a history of serious mental illness.

Although bath salts have appeared in central Ohio stores, research by
the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services indicates
that they are concentrated in the Cleveland and Dayton areas, said
Brad DeCamp, assistant chief in the department's division of treatment
and recovery services.

But Kearney said law enforcement that he has spoken to believe the
problem could grow in southern Ohio and are frustrated by a lack of
regulation.

"Until we get some teeth, our abilities are pretty limited," Duff
said. "It's kind of unfortunate that this stuff can continue to be
marketed as bath salts, knowing full well that the people marketing
this stuff and peddling this stuff know what folks, mainly kids, are
doing with this stuff."

Bath salts skate around existing laws by including a warning they are
not for consumption, according to the CDC study.

"Classes of designer drugs like 'bath salts' are intended to have
pharmacological effects similar to controlled substances but to be
chemically distinct from them, thus avoiding legal control," according
to the CDC study.

Duff compared bath salts to synthetic marijuana, which was legally
sold as incense before it was banned.

"Obviously, people know what they're buying," Jolliff said. "I don't
think too many people are buying this accidentally."