Clarity Testing Services Blog : Research Chemicals

"Bath salts" are a category of new designer drugs that are marketed as a bath product but are actually used by recreational drug users to get high. New legislation banning "bath salts" is has just cleared the New Jersey Senate Committee and appears to be on its way to the Governor of New Jersey for signing.

These so-called "bath salts" are currently sold legally in convenience stores, head shops, and even gas stations. They are used by recreational drug users and abusers as a relatively cheap and legal alternative to methamphetamine and cocaine. While these designer drugs are most commonly known as "bath salts," other enterprising merchants are offering them as "plant food" or "research chemicals" to circumvent the law. Many carry labeling that they are not for human consumption, which further increases the difficulty of controlling them.

The New Jersey law has been nicknamed Pamela's Law after a Rutgers University study, Pamela Schmidt, who was murdered by her boyfriend, William J. Parisio who was allegedly under the influence of "bath salts" purchased legally from a convenience store. These designer drugs affect the body similarly to methamphetamine and can cause chest pains, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia, suicidal thoughts and delusions. Pamela's Law is an attempt to recognize that these new substances are actually dangerous drugs and the attempt to sell them as bath products, plant food, or other harmless substances is deceptive.

Under the proposed law, it would become a crime of the third degree to possess, manufacture, or distribute products containing the ingredients in these "bath salts." These ingredients are:

4-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone, 4-MMC)
3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV)
3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone (methylone, MDMC)
4-methoxymethcathinone (methedrone, bk-PMMA, PMMC)
3-fluoromethcathinone (3-FMC)
4-fluoromethcathinone (flephedrone, 4-FMC).

In New Jersey, third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

The NJ Attorney General has already banned these substances, but the order is only in effect for 270 days. Passage of the law would make the ban permanent.

If the bill is passes, New Jersey would join Florida, Louisiana and North Dakota in criminalizing "bath salts". "Bath salts" are also illegal in European Union, Australia, Canada, and Israel.

References:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/nj_moves_closer_to_criminalizi.html

http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2011/06/bill_would_crack_down_on_bath.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/rutgers_student_accused_of_kil.html

http://www.politickernj.com/48130/girgenti-legislation-establishing-pamelas-law-clears-senate-committee

This entry was posted on August 17, 2011 at 2:20 PM and has received 291 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

A new group of designer drugs is causing great concern among law enforcement and health professionals. These drugs are being marketed as bath salts, but they have nothing in common with the product people sprinkle into a warm bath. The names "bath salts," "research chemicals," and "plant food" are being used to circumvent the law along with labeling stating the product is "not for human consumption." In reality, these substances are being used as substitutes for amphetamines and cocaine and are ingested by injection or snorting.

They are found in head shops, convenience stores, gas stations and, of course, on the internet under various brand names such as

Arctic Blast
Bloom
Blue Magic
Bolivian Bath, Bubbles
Cloud 10
Dynamite
Energizing Aromatherapy Powder
Euphoria
Gold Rush
Hurricane Charlie
Ivory Wave
Ivory Wave Ultra
Lady Bubbles
Lunar Wavw
Mr. Nice Guy
Meow Meow
Ocean Snow
Pure White
Red Dove
Route 69
Scarface
Snow Day
Tranquility
Vanilla Sky
White China
White Dove
White Girls
White Horse
White Knight
White Lightning
White Rush
Wicked X or Wicked XX
Zombie Apocalypse
Zoom

Their use is spreading and so are the dangers. Over 251 bath-salts-related calls were made to poison control centers in the first two months of 2011 alone. This exceeds the number of such calls made in all of 2010 (236 total). Adding to the problem is the fact that neither bath salts nor their ingredients are scheduled controlled substances on the federal level, although several states are now banning them. New Jersey is one of the latest states to do so. Legislation to outlaw these drugs has been proposed in Congress.

The ingredients in bath salts belong to a class known as synthetic cathinones. They are:

MDPV synonym 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone
Mephedrone synonyms 4-methylmethcathinone, 4-MMC
Methylone synonyms 3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone, MDMC
Naphyrone synonyms napthylpyrovalerone, NRG-1
4-Fluoromethcathinone synonyms 4-FMC, flephedrone
3-Fluoromethcathinone synonym 3-FMC
Methedrone synonyms 4-methoxymethcathinone, bk-PMMA, PMMC
Butylone synonyms bk-MBDB, beta-keto-N-methylbenzodioxolylpropylamine

Bath salts affect the body similarly to methamphetamine and can cause chest pains, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia, and delusions.

These products have been available in Europe for some time. European reports indicate that people who use these products develop the same intense cravings and addictions as those who use methamphetamines.

So far U.S. law has not caught up to bath salts and it is proving a challenge to law enforcement, parents and poison control.

References:

http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs43/43474/sw0007p.pdf

http://www.forensicmag.com/news/bath-salts-latest-synthetic-drug-challenge

http://info.publicintelligence.net/EPIC-BathSalts.pdf

http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-28/news/29483231_1_bath-salts-designer-drugs-bath-water

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/04/nj_bans_six_chemicals_used_to.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/04/six_chemicals_used_to_make_bat.html

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/alternate-names-bath-salt-drug

http://www.nida.nih.gov/about/welcome/MessageBathSalts211.html

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6019a6.htm

This entry was posted on August 17, 2011 at 2:16 PM and has received 513 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.