"Bath salts," the newest designer drug on the market, were added Feb. 22 to the Alabama Controlled Substance List, making it a felony crime to possess, manufacture or distribute the drug.
While the drug has no association with the product used in baths or at spas, they were readily available until recently at gas stations, convenience stores and "head shops" around the area.
"Instead of waiting until more reports came in, we decided to partner with Florida and Mississippi and make them illegal, with the hopes that people would stop using or never start," said Alabama Health Officer Donald Williamson.
Under the guise of harmless names such as "Red Dove," "Ivory Wave" and "Ocean Snow," the drugs were sold for as little as $20 for a 200 mg package.
These "bath salts," although labeled "not for human consumption," often contain the stimulants mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone--also known as MDPV--and have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
These compounds are said to cause hallucinations, confusion, manic outbursts and tremors, as well as delivering effects similar to LSD, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Officials in Mississippi said they are able to tie one death to the drug and have reports of another man who took a skinning knife to his face and stomach while high on the drug.
Ann Slattery, clinical toxicologist and supervisor of the regional poison control center in Birmingham, said they became aware of the drug in October of last year. Since then, Slattery said they began to receive calls in early January of people inhaling, smoking and even injecting "bath salts."
In Auburn, employees at Dreamscapes on South College Street admitted to once selling the product, butthey said they have pulled it completely from the store.
"They weren't that big of a deal," said one employee who preferred to remain anonymous. "It was kind of a flash in the pan for us; we had them for less than a month."
The employee said he never saw any students purchase them, but noted they were available at other places around town despite denial by the stores.
In all, Slattery said they have had 18 calls just from the eastern portion of the state they monitor.
These exposures add to the more than 300 seen in the country this year, which has already surpassed last year's total.
Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana poison center, said "bath salts" are the worst substances he has seen in 20 years.
All of the 18 exposures the poison control center received originated from health care facilities, which demonstrates that users and health care personnel are inexperienced with handling the drug, Slattery said.
"We are continuing to do daily surveillance on the matter," Slattery said. "I would expect that the number of exposures would go down now that the 'bath salts' are illegal, but sometimes people become even more curious."
Although the health risks are clear, the infancy of the drug poses a bigger threat to government and health professionals, as its origins remain mostly unknown and difficult to evaluate.
Despite the "bath salts" being illegal in some states, people are still able to purchase them off the Internet, and it may take years for national legislation to make the substances illegal.
"These substances do not have any legitimate medical use," Williamson said. "But the real concern is that they carry a strong desire to reuse and produce psychotic episodes."
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