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  Bath salts are central nervous stimulants and act like cocaine, methamphetamine or ecstasy.

By SARA SALDI

Published: August 16, 2012

As Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo visited UB’s South Campus on Aug. 7 to announce recent New York State Department of Health (DOH) regulations that crack down on bath salts, UB’s Research Institute on Addictions released another in its series of expert summaries explaining the dangers of bath salts—what they are, how they work on the central nervous system and points for parents dealing with kids using them.

Cuomo described bath salts as a serious threat to public safety, adding, “We must do everything we can to remove these harmful substances from sale and distribution in New York.

“The actions we are announcing today attack the problem by helping our law enforcement officers enforce the rules, expanding the list of banned substances used to manufacture bath salts and imposing tougher penalties so those who sell these drugs are held accountable.”

RIA Director Kenneth Leonard agrees.

“Our expert summaries are dedicated to educating our communities—academic, health care and health consumers—on the health consequences of specific addictive substances and/or behaviors. This is our fourth summary and it coincides with the governor’s address, hopefully creating the maximum public education impact.”

Leonard stressed that these summaries raise awareness about RIA’s focus on addiction and help parents stay abreast of what their children’s exposure to addictive substances may be.

According to the latest summary, bath salts often contain the compounds 3, 4-methylenedioxypryrovalerone (MDPV) and/or mephedrone. They appear as an odorless, powdery substance or a crystal, liquid or tablet.

Bath salts are central nervous stimulants and act like cocaine, methamphetamine or MDMA (“ecstasy”).

Leonard points out that bath salt abuse is an escalating public health problem, with poison control centers in 2010 logging 304 calls about bath salts.

In 2011, these calls jumped to 6,138, he says. And with the development of commercial drug tests that can detect these illicit drugs, newer versions of these drugs likely will be synthesized to avoid detection.

“It is of utmost importance that we educate the public to recognize the physical appearance of bath salts and how they cause individuals to behave when ingested. One part of the equation is regulation; the other part is to arm citizens with the facts—which is part of RIA’s mission,” says Leonard.

“Routine drug screens do not detect bath salts and the risk of overdose on these compounds is high, especially when taken orally,” he added.

Bath Salts may be sold as White Lightning, Snow Leopard, Tranquility, Zoom, Ivory Wave, Red Dove, Vanilla Sky and others.

With enactment of the new New York State DOH regulations, local law enforcement officials will be able to pursue perpetrators under state laws for the first time and refer violators to local district attorneys for prosecution.

To download a copy of the expert summary, “RIA Reaching Others: ‘Bath Salts’ Synthetic Drugs,” visit the RIA website.