All around the country, a white powdered substance with names like Vanilla Sky, Ivory Wave, and White Rush are being purchased by individuals. The powder is then snorted, producing a meth-like high. The white powder is not cocaine or any other illegal drug. It is simply sold as “bath salts” and can be found at many convenience stores and gas stations around the nation.
Increasingly, law enforcement agents and poison control centers say the bath salts with complex chemical names are an emerging threat in several U.S. states where authorities talk of banning their sale. In fact, In Florida and Louisiana, the bath salts have already been banned.
Mark Ryan, the director of the Louisiana Poison Center, first heard of a new, legal drug being sold throughout the Southeast in September. I n September, Ryan says, the poison center got its first call from an emergency room unsure about what it was dealing with. Soon, the center and poison control hotlines in Florida, California and all over the nation were seeing several cases a day.
Ryan says when the drug is abused individuals are unable to control their behavior.
"For lack of a better term, they're flipped out. It's almost like a psychotic break. They're extremely anxious and combative, they think there's stuff trying to get them, they're paranoid, and they’re having hallucinations. So, the encounters are not pleasant," Ryan says. "And we were finding that some of these guys couldn't be sedated with the normal drugs that we would use with other stimulants."
Ryan adds that this drug is a stimulant, a lot like coca leave found in countries like South America and Columbia. However, he says, these are not naturally derived substances but synthetic drugs that are made in labs.
Derry Hallmark, Senior Director for Expansion for Narconon Arrowhead, has seen more and more people reaching for help for unusual addictions, such as bath salts and believes in any case drug rehab is the necessary component for anyone to overcome addiction and return to a normal way of life.
“The chemical combinations found in these bath salts cause similar highs and withdraw symptoms as methamphetamine,” said Hallmark. “As a result, these drugs have the potential to be very addictive and very dangerous.”“Narconon Arrowhead is prepared to handle any substance addiction and has a great deal of experience with methamphetamine addiction,” adds Hallmark.
Narconon Arrowhead is a long term, inpatient drug rehab which handles the full extent of the addiction, both mental and physical and achieves a 70% success rate for permanent sobriety from methamphetamine and all other addictive substances.
For more information on methamphetamine drug rehab through Narconon or if you know someone you know who is struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction call Narconon Arrowhead today at 800-468-6933.