DANGEROUS DRUG COULD BE HEADING NORTH

SAINT JOHN - A dangerous new hallucinogenic drug is causing more
criminal problems in Bangor, Maine than any of the other illegal drugs
combined, Bangor police say.

And the drug - called "bath salts" - could easily make the roughly
three-hour trek across the border to Saint John, Ron Gastia, Bangor's
police chief said.

"This is the worst drug we have seen here in my career," said Gastia,
who has 29 years of experience.

"This is my primary focus right now. Officers are out there responding
to these calls and I fear my officers will be in a position of kill or
be killed, or another member of the public will be hurt."

There's no evidence the drug - which is similar to methamphetamine,
but even more addictive and unpredictable - is on Saint John streets,
said Saint John Police Force Chief Bill Reid. But that doesn't mean it
won't migrate here soon.

"We're only a border away. I suspect it may be in some communities.
Maybe it's already there," he said.

Police have also warned Saint John school principals to watch out for
the dangerous drug.

The drug resembles bath salts but is only called that because of its
innocent name, Gastia said. Instead, it creates delusions, extreme
paranoia, hallucinations and psychosis. The drug has also be known to
induce suicidal thoughts.

The synthetic substance is made of mephedrone or MDPV, and the powder
is snorted, injected, smoked or eaten.

"The effect of these drugs on these people is very unpredictable,"
Gastia said. But users act in bizarre ways because they feel as if
they need to protect themselves.

Last week, a man locked himself in a store bathroom in Bangor, causing
thousands of dollars in damage, tearing the ceiling apart and tearing
sinks off the walls. He believed people were hiding in the ceiling.

Another man left his house carrying an assault rifle because he
thought people were climbing out of his mattress to kill him, Gastia
said.

The Bangor police also recently had a four-hour standoff as a man hung
off a bridge, taking his clothes off. The incident was filmed and
posted to YouTube.com.

Gastia fears police officers will be hurt in the crossfire. One
officer was recently attacked when he stepped out of his vehicle by
someone high on bath salts.

Bath salts is now illegal in Maine and 31 other states, but it isn't
illegal under federal U.S. law. It is readily available on the
Internet and in some stores.

The stimulants are sold in powder form under various brand names, in
containers labelled "not for human consumption."

Currently, someone possessing bath salts is charged a $350 fine. If
the federal law passes in emergency legislation next week, Bangor
police will be able to send someone to jail, but only after they have
been cleared medically.

"It could take hours or it could take days," Gastia said. "That, I
don't anticipate, will change."

The hospitals and police officers are overwhelmed by the drug, which
surfaced in January, Gastia said. "I have a staff meeting every
morning and the first thing we hear is what did we have the day before
with bath salt issues," he said.

"We don't have cocaine, meth or heroin issues every day, but we do
have incidents with bath salts every day." Marijke Blok, principal at
Saint John High School, said she has limited information on bath
salts, but mostly gleans information on new drugs from her students.

It seems marijuana and prescription pills remain the biggest problem
drugs for high school students, she said.

At Simonds High School, principal Gary Keating said if the drug made
its way to Saint John, the students would be educated on its dangers
and effects.

"As a parent and as a principal, it's scary," he said. "We worry about
them constantly. They make naive mistakes."

In Bangor, bath salts is mostly used by people in their 20s and 30s
who are typically known drug users, Gastia said. Instead of using
heroin or methamphetamine, they opt for bath salts because up until
recently, it was legal, cheap and there were very few deterrents, he
said.

But just last week, police arrested a 19-year-old who had been using
bath salts, and it's expected to migrate to younger age groups. He
urges parents to be proactive and talk about the drugs with their children.

"Now is the time to be doing this," he said. "This should get people's
attention. They should listen."