Bath Salts Essay

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Bath Salts Not long ago, when bath salts came to mind most people would think of a relaxing bubble bath in the bathtub. These days it is the slang term for an emerging synthetic designer drug that isn’t so user friendly. The usage of bath salts is fairly new. Most case studies only date back to 2010. Interest in the drug has quickly risen within the last few years, and awareness of its effects is more important than ever. Introduction Bath salts are synthetic cathinones, which are central nervous system stimulants (Schaller, 2013). The stimulant mimics drugs such as cocaine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), methamphetamine, and ecstasy. Bath Salts can be sold as, tablets, capsules, or powder (Alliance, 2012). The main ingredients that go into bath salts are the synthetic compounds MDPV, mephedrone, pyrovalerone, and methylone. There are many other ingredients used along with these, or in place of them. Some bath salts have been found containing extremely high levels of caffeine. MDPV and mephedrone, the most common bath salts, originated as synthetic versions of a natural ingredient found in Khat, a hallucinogenic plant found in eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The plant produces an amphetamine-like high when chewed or brewed as tea. In 1993 Cathinone, the active ingredient in Khat, was classified by the federal government as a Schedule I substance (Schaller, 2013) Historical Use & Current Trends Although the first cases of bath salts weren’t seen until a few years ago, the chemical compound of the drug dates back a lot further. Methcathinone was first synthesized in Germany in 1928, and used in the Soviet Union as an anti-depressant during the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1970s Russian drug abusers knew the formula for manufacturing methcathinone and by the 1980s its use was widespread (Calkins, 1995). The drug problem had been kept quiet by Soviet

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