Designer drug 'Bath salts' could be taking hold in N.J.

Published: Sunday, March 20, 2011, 10:00 AM     Updated: Sunday, March 20, 2011, 4:27 PM

 By Star-Ledger Staff 
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Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger"Bath salts," not to be mistaken for the product that goes in bath water, are a synthetic drug available legally at convenience stores and head shops around the country. Medical experts say the powders, shown here in a photo illustration, can be smoked, ingested or snorted.

From flimsy rolling papers to curled up dollar bills, huffing paint and magic markers, the methods used to gain a quick buzz have evolved over time. But over the past few years, experts say, a new wave of narcotics, so-called "designer drugs," has carved its own place in the nation’s drug culture.

Sold under slick monickers like "K2," "Spice" and "plant food," the substances are often made from chemicals too complex for many users to pronounce. While their effects can can mimic those of street drugs at a relatively low cost, they have a major advantage over narcotics like marijuana and heroin:

In most states, they are legal.

"Bath salts," one of the newest of these designer drugs, could be taking hold in New Jersey. The substance — which is the not same stuff people toss into their tubs to take a relaxing soak — made headlines last week when the mother of a Cranford man accused of killing Rutgers University senior Pamela Schmidt said her son had been abusing it.

Authorities have not confirmed that the suspect, William Parisio, was taking bath salts, but Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said investigators are looking into the possibility.

Medical experts say bath salts — a fine, salt-white powder whose effects can mirror those of methamphetamines but which can also cause severe psychotic episodes — haven’t hit New Jersey as hard as other parts of the country. The New Jersey Poison Control Center has only reported "between eight and 12" cases of bath salts being used in the state in the past year.

But the substance does not show up on routine toxicology screenings, said Steven Marcus, a doctor and director of the poison control center, so its useage could be underreported. And with bath salts rapidly spreading from the southern and western parts of the country, some say it’s only a matter of time before New Jersey sees a spike.

"My sense is that it’s coming in a wave," said Ian Gershman, vice president of treatment at Daytop Village, one of the state’s largest adolescent-addiction centers. "But the wave just hasn’t hit the shores of New Jersey yet."

A NATIONAL PROBLEM

Experts say bath salts are part of a groundswell of designer drugs that began to appear in the U.S. late last year after they were outlawed in Europe.

Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana Poison Control Center, said the powders first gained a foothold in his state between October and December, when authorities reported nearly 200 incidents involving them.

"We were the nexus of this thing and we were going up like a mushroom cloud," he said.

The powders, which can be snorted, smoked or ingested, have been linked to scattered reports of violence and self-mutilation. Users often become extremely paranoid, agitated and at times psychotic, experts said.

There have been 1,403 reported cases of bath salts use in the U.S. since September, according to the National Poison Data System; more than 1,100 of those cases have occurred since Jan. 1.

Poison-control centers in 47 states have reported cases of bath salts use, according to the national data. The powders spread to the west after exploding in Louisiana, where a handful of cases caught the attention of Zane Horowitz, a doctor and director of the Oregon Poison Center.

"It’s sort of below the radar screen. Law enforcement is only just starting to hear about it. Poison centers have been on the alert about this since mid-early winter last year," he said. "But we’re seeing more and more people use or misuse this product."

Ryan said officials don’t know exactly how addictive bath salts are, or how long their effects can last. Ryan said he’s seen patients experience paranoia and other psychotic symptoms for as long as two weeks, and mental health issues long after that.

While the powders are now readily available in gas stations and convenience stores, selling for $20 to $50, they had to travel thousands of miles to get there. Ryan and Special Agent Douglas S. Collier, spokesman for the state division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the chemicals used to make bath salts are often imported from China and India.

‘LEGAL METH’

The powders — dubbed "legal meth" and "legal cocaine" by users — are sold with the phrase "not for human consumption" stamped on the side, disguising them as normal retail products, which Horowitz said is a "wink and a nod to users."

None of the ingredients in bath salts is on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of controlled substances because the chemicals have not been seen in other street drugs or retail products, experts say. Still, the agency has named several of the ingredients in bath salts "drugs of concern," meaning officials are trying to determine whether they should be controlled. It’s an extensive process that involves data collection, scientific tests and cross-agency collaboration.

The DEA’s list details all federally regulated drugs — from certain types of cough syrups to heroin and LSD.

"Just because something is legal, doesn’t make it safe," DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said. "Why would anyone want to play Russian roulette with stuff like that? You have no idea what is going into your body, nor do you know the chemicals or the lab environment in which they were synthesized."

Bath salts have prompted a flurry of legal action throughout the country. Louisiana, Kentucky, Florida and North Dakota have all implemented bans in the past six months, and South Carolina recently proposed one. Three New Jersey lawmakers said last week they will propose a ban.

Drugs can also be added to the controlled substance list by an act of Congress, something U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) began pursuing weeks ago. Last week, just a day after Parisio’s mother said he was using bath salts in the months before Schmidt’s slaying, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) also signed onto that bill.

The most common ingredients in bath salts — methodrone and methlynedioxypyrovalerone, commonly known as MDPV — are targeted by the New Jersey bills. But Ryan said the bill doesn’t go far enough because there are four additional chemicals that can be used to make the powders.

While it may be too late for families like the Schmidts and Parisios, they, too, hope their ordeals are some of the last suffered by New Jersey residents.

"We’re just really happy that something is being done to prevent this from happening to someone else’s family," said Diane Parisio.

James Queally and Ryan Hutchins/The Star-Ledger