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Sold in gas stations and smoke shops, the drugs have been associated with intense, severe side effects that have led to suicidal thoughts, self-mutilation, and violent outbursts, Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Thomas R. Calcagni, Acting Director of the State Division of Consumer Affairs, said at a news conference this morning.
They also cited a Dec. 3 incident last year in which a 26-year-old man high on the drugs shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy in Mississippi.
“Shady retailers are playing a deadly game, selling highly dangerous drugs with fake labels like ‘bath salts’ or ‘plant food’ to evade the law,” Dow said. “No more. Here in New Jersey the game is over.
“Today, anyone who sells these drugs is committing a crime. We’re taking these drugs off the streets in order to save lives.”
She added that state authorities are allowing a 10-day grace period for anyone with the drugs to turn them in, no questions asked. This goes with Saturday’s “Operation Take Back,” a statewide effort sponsored by the DEA that allows local community residents to properly dispose of their unused, unwanted and expired medicine without any consequences.
The primary ingredient is mephedrone, made from a chemical based on compounds found in the East African “khat” plant, which caused an uproar nearly a decade ago when people began importing and smoking it.
Similar to amphetamine, it accelerates the heart rate, makes you puke, convulse or become paranoid and even delusional — if it doesn’t give you a seizure first. The effects can last for days, sometimes producing “psychotic symptoms,” experts say.
Although European authorities have been grappling with it more than a year — street dealers there quickly added it to their stashes once the substance was banned — the “new” drug literally hit the U.S. radar late last fall. Since then, numbers have climbed quickly at poison control centers, mostly in the South and Southwest.
New Jersey officials have begun seeing the effects at an increasing rate.
The New Jersey Poison Information and Education System has received 23 reports of “bath salts” drug use since Jan. 1.
Half were reported this month, and a full 95 percent were so severe that they required emergency treatment, officials said. More than half of those affected were admitted to a hospital, they said.
In one case, earlier this month, a user who fell and was hurt was still so “aggressive, agitated, and confused” in the emergency room — literally foaming at the mouth, his heart beating at double the usual rate — that the staff had to sedate him and hook him to a respirator in order to treat him, authorities said.
Another user had to be taken by ambulance to an emergency room after having snorted the salts the day before. She reported being unable to “come down” despite taking sleep medication. The patient was unable to stop shaking her head back and forth, and unable to stop moving her limbs. She said she felt like she was “coming out of her skin.”
ALSO SEE: Substance that mimics speed headed here — in bath salts
“The intensity of these reports is alarming, especially given the unusually high number of cases within a short period of time, and the severity of their symptoms,” said Dr. Steven M. Marcus, Medical and Executive Director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System. “Based on these concerns, this appears to be a crucial time for New Jersey to step in and ban these dangerous substances.”
Apparently, an amphetamine-like compound is responsible. And although the packages — manufactured in China and India — clearly say, “Not for human consumption,” some consumers don’t care. The fact that they’ve been sold in convenience stores, headshops and online suggest something about the manufacturers’ intent.
What frightens physicians more than anything is the potential for long-term damage, given the fact that not enough time has passed for any type of meaningful study.
Under an order signed by Calcagni, six chemicals associated with “bath salts” have been added to the list of list of Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substances in New Jersey. Violators of what are now third-degree crimes face three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
Louisiana, Florida and North Dakota are the only other two states to criminalize the drugs.
Calcagni’s order remains in effect for 270 days, or until a regulation is adopted. The administrative process of adopting a regulation includes a public hearing.
Legislation is currently pending in the New Jersey Senate to criminalize two of the chemicals: mephedrone and MDPV.
Having no known legitimate use, the drugs are falsely labeled as “bath salts,” “plant food,”
or other innocuous substances, and marked “Not For Human Consumption,” in order to conceal from
law enforcement the true purpose of the substances, authorities said.
They have been sold under the names “Energizing Aromatherapy,” “Down2Earth White Horse,” “Kamikaze,” “Ivory Wave,” “Purple Wave,” “Red Dove,” “Blue Silk,” “Vanilla Sky,” among others.
“Users may have believed this new breed of designer drug was somehow safer than cocaine or methamphetamines simply because it wasn’t specifically targeted by the law,” Calcagni said.
“The disturbing reality,” he said, “is [that] these substances have been linked to severe health consequences and chilling acts of violence and self-mutilation. With only weeks to go before the start of the summer season, we are striking with this swift intervention in order to get these drugs out of retail establishments and away from anyone who might use them.”
It all comes on the heels of the “Spice” trend: Although marketed as incense, a blend of chemically treated leaves has gotten its smokers stoned. Researchers are hard at work trying to find a non-harmful replacement — with the DEA looking over their shoulders.
The acting order lists the following drugs as on the banned controlled dangerous substance list:
Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV)
Methylmethcathinone (Mephedrone, 4-MMC)
Methylenedioxymethcathinone (Methylone, MDMC)
Fluoromethcathinone (Flephedrone, 4-FMC)
Fluoromethcathinone (3-FMC)
Methoxymethcathinone (Methedrone, bk-PMMA, PMMC)
“These chemicals have no valid medical use and can only cause life-threatening harm to those who ingest them,” said Dr. Christina Tan, Acting State Deputy Health Commissioner.
MORE INFO:
Hotline: 800-242-5846
Email: askconsumeraffairs@lps.state.nj.us
Website: www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov
For emergencies, dial 911
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