Increase abuse of Bath Salts

[WendyBensonRN]

I am a Psych Nurse in WV and over the last 3 months, there has been an astronomical increase in the amount of admissions that we have gotten that have been abusing bath salts. Here is my experience with this drug: the patient takes this drug and it is like russian roullette. The patient becomes extremely paranoid leading to increased agitation and increased physical aggression. The increased aggression leads to the patient harming himself or others and then a committment is filed. Once the patient is medically cleared and brought to our facility, they are still on a "bath salt high". It takes approximately 24-48 hours for the patient to regain some sense of themselves. I have seen young people go thru memory loss and never regain their memories of what happened immediately after abusing these bath salts. This is a very sad epidemic we are facing!

What are some experiences that you have had with bath salts?

[Munch]

Many people will do anything to get a buzz. I remember when I was in high school(11th grade health class) we were learning about drugs and alcohol. My teacher told us about a story about a fifteen year old that heard injecting peanut butter(yes as in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) that you can get at any grocery store. I have no idea where he got the idea from and how in the world he got it in a syringe. He injected it into his veins (don't know how he did that either) but after he managed to do that he died within an hour. People will do anything for a high even if it's injecting groceries into their veins.

[JerseyBSN]

People are buying drugs such as Bath Salts, 7H, Bath Pearls, Plant Food, etc...at convenience markets. Apparently you have to know the lingo in order to buy these substances. You can't buy them by using the names listed. They are chemicals that when snorted make people high and a lot cheaper than cocaine, etc. They are made of ingredients that are not illegal. Police are trying to eliminate these drugs but it is very difficult because the ingredients are not illegal. It is very sad indeed. Patients suffer a range of reactions. Some never fully recover.

[46oldnewrn]

WOW, Calgon takes me away has a new huge meaning to me!!

WTH??? REALLY??

[aloevera]

well I'm about to give away my age here.......but I can remember when I was in high school, I knew of kids who "sniffed glue" to get high......can you imagine?

so I guess this new "bath salts" is what's going on now........

also "Spice" is becoming pretty common that I see with adolescents AND adult admissions...........if they only knew the damage they were doing..........

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

i have a friend who used to work in a head shop that started to sell these "bath salts". he quit on the spot one day when he saw a couple come in 3 times in one day to buy them while holding their visibly dirty, crying, minimally clothed infant with them each time. i cant believe its legal.

i also had a patient in clinical and i was interviewing him on admission, the nurse told me he was admitted for ODing on bath salts. So i asked him if he had used any other drugs that day. he reported that he mixed bath salts and meth and injected it, started feeling out of control so he injected 3 bags of heroin to "come down a little". he was found laying in his own vomit in a parking lot near the hospital muttering incoherently. later that day they had to call security because he stated throwing things and threatening to kill people. o.O he was fun.

[leslie :-D]

wow...i am totally blown away by what people ingest for a high.

now it's bath salts?

how do people discover these agents?

my 21 yo son was telling me about 'incense' that kids are smoking, and how it really messes them up.

yep, i remember the days of glue as well.

there are some seriously messed up people out there.

i'm sitting here just shaking my head - wow, wow, WOW.

leslie

[RNOTODAY, BSN, RN]

I do not smoke anything, even regular cigarettes, but here is my take ont the subject...What is it about maeijuana that makes it more dangerous than etoh? in my opinion, nothing. yeah you can do stupid stuff after smoking pot, but how etoh affects most people is more damaging, in my opinion.

And the monitary benefits???? omg just think of what this country will be saving, and gaining.........ta the hell out of it, like cigarettes, gas and alcohol.... and right there we hit the jackpot.... and then factor in the savings in the judicial systems for posession charges, housing a prisoner, etc..... alll this adds up to alot of money the country needs,,,,,

its not like we are tallking about crack... pot is less dsngerous than alcohol..... wake up and smell the money go up in smoke, america!!!!!

[RingaLing]

Bath salts--just read a whole article about the guy who chewed off a homeless man's face in Miami. They think he was high on this stuff. Did anyone see the "Intervention" episode regarding the young guy who was addicted to this garbage? They later diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but you gotta wonder?

[JerseyBSN]

FYI: Bath Salts is just a name for privately created drugs that are sold in convenience markets under innocent sounding names, such as Bath Salts, Plant Food, etc.

They are not what they imply that they are. No one is actually consuming Bath Salts or Plant Food. (although I don't doubt they would if they thought they could get a high)

[canned_bread]

Wow, I am amazed this thread was started so long ago, when the problem only caught my attention in the last month or so (after the "zombie" attack). I did recently have a patient (14 yo) who presented to hospital after EATING bath salts (literal nice smelling bath salts), in amongst some prescription drugs, to make the attempt at her life more pleasant. I don't think she understood. I certainly didn't!

[BabyRN2Be]

That attack in Miami was particularly disturbing. I have a strong stomach and mind for these types of things, but seeing the post-op picks after knowing what this man went through were extremely graphic and not for the faint of heart. That was very sad.

For the life of me I don't understand these bath salts; from the innocuous name to the high it gives them. As with everyone else, when I see "bath salts" I think of that lovely stuff that I put in bath water as a relaxing soak (lavendar-vanilla, my favorite:up:). I see it as a way to relax but someone has taken the name and used it for an illicit drug with horrible side effects. Another aspect I can not understand, it sounds like it produces an unpleasant high in the user with paranoia, agitation, acting out. That surely does not sound "fun" to me.

I just can't understand the appeal to using bath salts. Not one thing about them sounds remotely appealing to me. However, as another poster said, it's been on TV with Dr Phil, Dr. Drew warning parents about these, of course the kids see it and thing, "I gotta try it!!!" What are those (and other) bozos thinking?!

[JerseyBSN]

Unfortunately they're not thinking, that's part of the problem. It makes them absolutely psychotic and some never come out of it. Fries the brain.