Bath Salts: Drug Side Effects, Ingredients & Addiction

how do people use bath salts as drugs

In 2020, the maximum prison sentence for a person found guilty of trafficking Schedule I substances was between 20–30 years. The drug doesn’t contain any ingredients from bathwater products. The easiest way to lookup drug information, identify pills, check interactions and set up your own personal medication records. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

A person may also dissolve the bath salts into a solution to inject into their veins. This is very important because of the dehydration bath salts cause. Drink plenty of water before and during your time on the drug.

The reason these drugs are commonly called bath salts is that they tend to be in the form of white or off-white powder or crystals. However, these substances are not at all the same as Epsom salts or the other bath salts in which people bathe. Many of the bath salt drugs include alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (alpha-PVP), mephedrone, methylone, and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV or MDPK) and are synthetic drugs called cathinones, which exist in plants commonly called khat plants.

  1. This can make them very dangerous, as a person cannot be sure what they are consuming.
  2. Drugs.com provides accurate and independent information on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and natural products.
  3. If you or someone you know experiences these effects, visit the emergency department immediately.
  4. According to statistics by state, people residing in the West tend to be at higher risk for chemical dependency.
  5. Those addicted to bath salts require professional help to support their recovery.

They have higher potency than natural cathinones of the khat plant of East Africa and Southern Arabia. The synthetic cathinones people use to make bath salts are not legal in the U.S. In purest form, the drug is a light brown or white crystallized powder.

Find More Resources on Synthetic Cathinones (“Bath Salts”)

It usually comes in plastic bags or foil labeled as bath salts, glass cleaner, or even plant food. Drugs.com provides accurate and independent information on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and natural products. This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Data sources include Micromedex (updated 3 Mar 2024), Cerner Multum™ (updated 4 Mar 2024), ASHP (updated 10 Mar 2024) and others. Cathinone comes from a plant called khat, found in East Africa and southern Arabia.

These drugs may cause a person to feel euphoria and alertness when ingested. However, they can also cause serious side effects, such as psychosis or death. Certain synthetic cathinones are used in medications to treat specific conditions.

how do people use bath salts as drugs

Balt salts can lead to serious, and even fatal adverse reactions. The drug effect is a high or “rush” that is similar to methamphetamine (speed). They are often sold on the street as cheap substitutes for other stimulants such as methamphetamine and cocaine. Bath salts only have recreational purposes and have no recognized medical application. Their potency and recreational nature make them prone to misuse and abuse, often leading to addiction.

What are the symptoms of bath salts intoxication?

Unfortunately, any of the complications described do not require long-term use of the drug in order to occur. Treatment for bath salt addiction while still under research, typically involves medication and therapy. Various treatment options are available for substance use disorders like bath salt addiction. The emergency and referral resources listed above are available to individuals located in the United States and are not operated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). NIDA is a biomedical research organization and does not provide personalized medical advice, treatment, counseling, or legal consultation.

how do people use bath salts as drugs

Bath salts are sometimes referred to as “zombie” or “cannibal” because it was speculated that a person who engaged in cannibalism as part of an assault might have been intoxicated on the substance. There is no single test that indicates someone has bath salts use disorder with complete certainty. Therefore, health care professionals diagnose this condition by thoroughly gathering medical, family, and mental health information. The practitioner will also either perform a physical examination or request that the individual’s primary care doctor do so. As opposed to any specific direct causes, there are a number of biological, psychological, and social factors, called risk factors, which can increase a person’s likelihood of developing a substance use disorder. The frequency that addictions to any drug, including bath salts, occur within some families seems to be higher than can be explained by the addictive environment of the family.

For example, poison-control centers in the United States reportedly received 304 calls for the abuse of this drug in 2010. That number increased to 1,782 calls in just the first four months of 2011 and to more than 6,000 calls by the end of that year. Interestingly, there were fewer calls to poison-control centers in 2012 and 2013 (2,691 and 996, respectively).

What to know about the drug bath salts

Others, such as the ones found in bath salts, are illegal in the U.S. Another important aspect of treating bath salts addiction is helping family members and friends of the addicted person refrain from encouraging addictive behaviors (codependency). 3 ways to report illegal drug activity Whether codependent loved ones provide financial support, excuses, or refrain from acknowledging the addictive behaviors of the addict, discouraging such codependency of friends and family is a key part of the recovery of the affected individual.

What are the signs of bath salt toxicity?

A person may also find it helpful to speak with their friends and family about their substance misuse. Having the support of loved ones may encourage a person as they find help for their condition. If a person experiences any of these effects after taking bath salts or is with someone who does, they should seek immediate medical alcohol and the adolescent brain national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism niaaa attention. Containers of bath salts will also have warnings, such as “not suitable for human consumption.” Manufacturers do this in an attempt to avoid legal restrictions. Synthetic cathinones are similar to certain substances found in the khat plant. Khat is used in East Africa and southern Arabia for its stimulant properties.

The drugs’ packaging often states “not for human consumption” in an attempt to circumvent drug prohibition laws.[6] Additionally, they may be mislabeled as plant food, powdered cleaner, and other such products. Some of the other many street or slang names for bath salts include plant food, Red Dove, crack vs coke Blue Silk, Vanilla Sky, Purple Wave, Ivory Wave, Bliss, White Lightning, White Dove, Super Coke, Tranquility, Zoom, Flakka, Cannibal, and Magic. Mephedrone also has street names like meow, drone, and meph. People take these so-called designer drugs by ingesting, smoking, sniffing, or injecting them.

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