What are bath salts? Unlike the lavender bath salts found at Bath & Body Works, the designer drugs (bath salts) are not meant to be used for aromatherapeutic purposes. The drug is typically a white crystalline powder that can be injected, eaten, smoked or snorted .Bath salts, made their significant entrance to the United States from England in the year 2010. In the UK the drugs were used as a cheap alternative to ecstasy at clubs. Science, statistics, law and history help us understand why these drugs are more dangerous than any other drug in the United States.
The term "bath salts" itself, as described by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), "refers to an emerging family of drugs containing one or more synthetic chemicals related to cathinone." Cathinones are natural stimulants found in the catha edulis (khat plant) which is native to East Africa and southern Arabia. Bath salt ‘cooks’ create synthetic cathinones, so that the they can effectively mimic amphetamines (ex. “meth”). The synthetic cathinones in bath salts are the cause of hallucinations, euphoria, and paranoia. Bath salts, have the reaction of both methamphetamine and cocaine. Dr Lovis J. De Felice, professor a Commonwealth University, says that “it would be like taking a very powerful cocaine and a very powerful methamphetamine at the same time. “Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that “processes control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain.” When dopamine is naturally released, it is then absorbed by the neurons. On one hand, just like methamphetamine, synthetic cathinones increases greatly increases dopamine levels. And on the other hand, cocaine prevents the reabsorption of excess dopamine. Most bath salts increases t...
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... the Navy began to abuse synthetic drugs.
Citations:
1. "Dangerous Designer Drug Packs a One-two Punch." - VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013
2. "DrugFacts: Synthetic Cathinones ("Bath Salts")." National Institute on Drug Abuse. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
3. "DrugFacts: Synthetic Cathinones ("Bath Salts")." National Institute on Drug Abuse. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
4."Bath Salts Craze Caught on Tape." YouTube. YouTube, 04 June 2012. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
5."Navy Video Is Disturbing Picture of Bath Salt Abuse." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
6. "Bath Salts." Bath Salts. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Pictures:
http://www.justice.gov/dea/pr/multimedia-library/image-gallery/bath-salts/bath-salts04.jpg
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Blotter/abc_bath_salt_two_jt_120601_wmain.jpg
The varieties of pharmaceutical and prescription drugs that are available to the public provide many different consequences, which could lead to other health problems among users. Opioids, for example, are typical...
Pharmaceuticals have examined and found to ”work by changing the biological functions of the target cells in the body through chemical agents“ (Doweiko, 2015, p. 16). ”Many people in the past have thought that drugs that
Feyerick, Dep. “ Drugs Sold as Bath Salts Easy to Buy. “CNN, Cable News Network, 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 26. Jan. 2014
The drug is sometimes used in combination with other party drugs, like Ecstasy and alcohol, which increases its risks, and can be lethal. GHB is most frequently illegally produced in home basement labs, usually in the form of a liquid that has no odor or color. It is known as a designer drug because it is specifically made for the purpose of getting people high.
Hochadel, M. (2014). Mosby's Drug Reference for Health Care Professionals (fourth edition ed.). : Elsevier.
crystal meth. Crystal meth is considered a strong narcotic in which is classified in the same class as
LSD as it is pure is a white, odorless crystalline powder that is water-soluble. But because an effective does of the drug when it is pure is almost invisible it is mixed with other substances such as sugar and packaged in capsules, tablets, solutions, or spotted on to gelatin pieces of blotting paper.
Adverse drug events or medication errors that result from polypharmacy can often be difficult to predict and prevent. According to an article posted in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (2012), drug –drug interactions may lead to increased toxicity levels when taken together. An example is the interactio...
Almost overnight one such venerable substance (or class of substances) has been catapulted into the national spotlight: prescription painkillers, namely those derived from the opium poppy. This class of analgesic encompasses everything from the codeine in prescription cough syrup to the morphine used in the management of sever pain. These compounds are commonly referred to as opiates and are produced naturally by the poppy. The sub-class of this type that has gotten all of the attention recently is the opioids, which are semi-synthetic compounds derived from the opiates (Wade 846). Opioids were developed for a variety of reasons, such as reducing the cost of production (morphine is expensive to synthesize) and attempting to reduce the addictiveness of the drugs.
In the 1930’s Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland began experimenting with new drugs. Albert Hofmann, a young chemist at Sandoz, was planning to discover a cure for individuals with respiratory and circulatory system issues. Hofmann started experimenting with the lysergic acid that is found in the Clavica pupurea fungus, rye, and other grains. Lysergic acid is used to cure headaches; Hofmann thought that the lysergic acid had potential to cure more than headaches. With the lysergic acid, he thought that diethylamide might be a possible match for a drug that could cure. Diethylamide is an amide that has the ability to bond with many proteins in the body. The brain is especially responsive to the diethylamide (Petechuk 12). In 1938 Hofmann synthesized lysergic acid with diethylamide. He then named the compou...
George, Patricia and Geraldine Wagner. “Point: Medical Experiments on Animals Are an Important Element of Drug Development.” Animal Experimentation 2015: 7. Points of view: Web. 14 February 2016.
You may ask, what is LSD? LSD is a type of acid or known by its scientific name Lysergic Acid Diethylamide which is a psychedelic. It was discovered by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1943. Although researched, scientist could not find a medical use for it.
Anonymous. "Prescription Drugs: Their Use and Abuse." Scholastic Scope. 20 Feb. 2006: IA. eLibrary. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
"New Data Show Rise in Prescription Drug Abuse." Targeted News Service (USA) 11 Apr. 2011,: NewsBank. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.
It is important for us to learn a much as we can about hallucinogenic plants. A great amount of scientific literature has been published about their uses and effects, but the information is locked away in technical journals. No matter whether we believe the use of hallucinogenic plants is right or wrong, they have played an extensive role in human culture and probably will continue to do so.