The Soothing Sensation That Is Bath Salts
The Soothing Sensation That is Bath Salts
Introduction
“Oh yeah, me and my girlfriend have a big bag of lavender bath salts sitting at home,” was the initial reaction when I asked a fellow engineer to portray as a testimonial for our borderline inappropriate bath salts infomercial. Contrary to popular belief, this new synthetic drug is far away from producing any effects that are similar to that of a relaxing bath. Until recently, bath salts were popularized to be a “legal high.” In order to tip toe around the federal drug regulatory laws, bath salts were marked with a warning label that mentioned “not for human consumption.” In South Carolina, before the ban on October 24th 2011, bath salts could be purchased at one of the many head shops, gas stations, and even online. The appearance of the drug itself is usually in a powdered form that is sold within a package that is very aesthetically pleasing. These packages are sold under a variety of appealing names such as Ivory Wave, Vanilla Sky, Bliss, Blue Silk and etc.
The composition of the synthetic drug bath salts can vary from dealer to dealer. Sometimes you may find traces of other stimulant drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, or ecstasy, but the most important culprit in bath salts is 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). MDPV falls under the category of phenethylamines and it is structurally related to synthetic cathinones. Synthetic cathinones are a group of drugs that are derivatives of the natural plant Catha edulis (also known khat), that contain the chemical phenylalkylamine alkaloid (Coppola, 2011). The remainder of the paper will provide some of the current available information such as pharmacokinetics, neurophysiology, and a brief discussion about MDPV as the primary active ingredient in bath salts.
Pharmacokinetics
The routes of administration of bath salts are similar to that of drugs in the “salt” class. The most common method is insufflation which results in faster onset of the effects but
Introduction
“Oh yeah, me and my girlfriend have a big bag of lavender bath salts sitting at home,” was the initial reaction when I asked a fellow engineer to portray as a testimonial for our borderline inappropriate bath salts infomercial. Contrary to popular belief, this new synthetic drug is far away from producing any effects that are similar to that of a relaxing bath. Until recently, bath salts were popularized to be a “legal high.” In order to tip toe around the federal drug regulatory laws, bath salts were marked with a warning label that mentioned “not for human consumption.” In South Carolina, before the ban on October 24th 2011, bath salts could be purchased at one of the many head shops, gas stations, and even online. The appearance of the drug itself is usually in a powdered form that is sold within a package that is very aesthetically pleasing. These packages are sold under a variety of appealing names such as Ivory Wave, Vanilla Sky, Bliss, Blue Silk and etc.
The composition of the synthetic drug bath salts can vary from dealer to dealer. Sometimes you may find traces of other stimulant drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, or ecstasy, but the most important culprit in bath salts is 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). MDPV falls under the category of phenethylamines and it is structurally related to synthetic cathinones. Synthetic cathinones are a group of drugs that are derivatives of the natural plant Catha edulis (also known khat), that contain the chemical phenylalkylamine alkaloid (Coppola, 2011). The remainder of the paper will provide some of the current available information such as pharmacokinetics, neurophysiology, and a brief discussion about MDPV as the primary active ingredient in bath salts.
Pharmacokinetics
The routes of administration of bath salts are similar to that of drugs in the “salt” class. The most common method is insufflation which results in faster onset of the effects but
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