Unfortunately, bath salts no longer refer to harmless, sweet-smelling substances we put in the tub or use while bathing. When discussed in the context of habit-forming substances, this term instead refers to a dangerous and addictive drug. Understanding some basic facts about bath salts help us to make sense of their potential harm.
Bath salts are synthetic cathinones. Chemically, cathinones come from a substance found in the khat plant. This shrub, grown in East Africa and parts of the Middle East, produces a mild stimulant that gets recreated in a lab and manufactured into different kinds of drugs.
Synthetic cathinones show up as a white or brown crystal-like powder. Users purchase them in small plastic bags or foil packages marked “not for human consumption.” Bath salts might also be labeled as jewelry, phone screen cleaners, or plant food.
Quick Bath Salts Facts
- Bath salts are typically swallowed, snorted, smoked, or injected.
- Bath salts are chemically similar to drugs like amphetamines or cocaine.
- Bath salts are addictive and trigger powerful withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, depression, tremors, and insomnia.
The Effects of Bath Salts Drugs
If taken by mouth, bath salts absorb rapidly into the user’s bloodstream with an intense “rush” that lasts about an hour and a half. Some initial effects can last from three to four hours.
Users then typically experience a hard “crash.”
The entire experience sometimes lasts for 8 hours or longer. Snorting or injecting the drug intensifies the experience and has added danger of overdose or addiction.
| Short-Term Effects | Long-Term Effects |
|---|---|
| Euphoria | Quickened heartbeat |
| Alertness | Hypertension |
| Extreme fear and unreasonable distrust of others | Hyperthermia |
| Auditory and visual hallucinations | Prolonged pupil dilation |
| Delusions | Breakdown of muscle fibers |
| Confusion | Release of fibers into the bloodstream |
| Increased friendliness | Grinding teeth |
| Acute psychosis | Sweating |
| Increased sex drive | Headaches |
| Panic attacks | Heart palpitations |
| Extreme agitation | Seizures |
| Combativeness | |
| Violent behavior |
What type of drug is bath salts?
The main ingredient in bath salts is methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). It’s in the phenethylamine class of drugs with a high that feels similar to amphetamine and cocaine. MDPV is also known to have a high overdose risk.
Other stimulants, such as mephedrone and pyrovalerone, may also be present.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced emergency scheduling in 2011 to control MDPV and all the chemicals found in bath salts. Shortly after that, it was classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. That means bath salts cannot be sold in the United States or prescribed for medical purposes.
The law also makes it a crime to mimic the effects of bath salts in future designer chemical compounds. If you possess or sell bath salts, you are subject to arrest and prosecution.
Street Names for Bath Salts
- Bliss
- Bloom
- Blue Silk
- Charge Plus
- Cloud Nine
- Drone
- Energy-1
- Flakka
- Hurricane Charlie
- Ivory Wave
- Lunar Wave
- Meow Meow
- Meph
- Ocean Burst
- Ocean Snow
- Plant Fertilizer
- Plant Food
- Pure Ivory
- Purple Sky
- Purple Wave
- Red Dove
- Scarface
- Sextasy
- Snow Leopard
- Stardust
- Vanilla Sky
- White Dove
- White Knight
- White Lightening
- White Night
- White Rush
- Zoom
If you or someone you love is using bath salts and wants to stop, contact Buena Vista Recovery for addiction recovery.
