BATH SALTS: SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
There have been many instances of users experiencing violent, psychotic and life-threatening episodes after using “Bath Salts.”
Effects on the Mind:
- Uncontrollable craving for the drug
- Insomnia
- False euphoria rapidly evolving into paranoia
- Nightmares
- Depression
- Severe agitation
- Hallucinations and delusions
- Self-harm
- Suicidal thoughts or suicide
- Psychosis
- Violent behaviour
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BATH SALTS: LONG-TERM EFFECTS
The harm caused by Bath Salts can be long-term and permanent, including:
- Increased blood pressure and heart rate
- Kidney damage and failure
- Liver damage
- Breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue
(muscles that bring about the movement of the bones of the skeleton) - Brain swelling and brain death
- Death
A 2013 study found that one of the main substances used in Bath Salts, known as MDPV (3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone), was highly addictive—possibly more so even than meth (methamphetamine), one of the most addictive drugs around.7
Bath Salts were linked to nearly 23,000 emergency department visits in the United States in 2011.8 Another study in the Midwestern United States found that more than 16 percent of patients sent to hospital emergency rooms due to Bath Salt abuse were in critical condition or died.9
The adverse effects of MDPV can last as many as six to eight hours after use; it has been reported to cause prolonged panic attacks, psychosis and deaths.
THIS PRODUCT IS POISON
“This product is poison… After the first hour I started to feel the cocaine-ish comedown that grew increasingly worse. The left side of my chest began to tighten and my heart was beating faster than ever… Paranoia set in… I was very close to requesting hospital treatment, but I waited it out. I would get better, a little worse, back and forth, but eventually after 3 to 4 hours I was feeling thankful to be alive and sober… The reports of people dying, or going to the hospital ARE NOT BULL***T… This is dangerous poison that some scum is making cash off of in the most evil of ways.” —G.F.
DO NOT USE THIS STUFF.
MY HEART STOPPED BEATING.
“I am an experienced drug user who experimented with more drugs than I have fingers. [Bath Salts] are more dangerous than crack. The comedown was the worst experience of my life. It lasted 9 hours. Nothing but fear, heart palpitations, jitters, severe nausea, and everything coming and going a million miles an hour. It was terrible. Because of this experience I will never use drugs again. I am lucky to still be alive to warn you. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS …” —E.W.
REFERENCES
- Study by The Scripps Research Institute, 2013.
- The DAWN Report, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, September 17, 2013.
- “These Aren’t Your Grandma’s Bath Salts,” American College of Emergency Physicians, March 28, 2013.