Some science links on "bath salt" recreational drug

The New York Times today has a big story about "bath salts," a technically-still-legal-in-some-places recreational drug which is not actually made from bath salts, but rather mephedrone or 4-MMC. The story was scary in that After-School Special kind of way, so I checked out some posts on the subject by science bloggers Abel Pharmboy and Drugmonkey. Turns out, there is at least one death that can be directly tied to the use of "bath salts" (that is, well-documented as attributable to the drug itself and not, for instance, somebody walking into traffic while high) and one of the more concerning things is that there haven't been any human trials that can tell you anything, reliably, about safety. Given that—and the anecdotal reports from ER physicians and poison control offices—doing "bath salts" sounds like something I'd categorize under "bad ideas."

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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Sativa Joe

When I went to Bella Tempo (a music festival in Minnesota) there were a lot of people selling alleged Molly (MDMA, usually in powder or crystal form) that were mephedrone. I understand drugs are always kinda of a crapshoot for quality and safety, but this was bordering on the ridiculous.
Anonymous

We had two guys die from Mephedrone here in my area
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7713942
Anonymous

I have actually done bath salts, and imo the high is superior to coke. But I wouldn’t do them again, they really do make people act crazy if they are on them for an extended time (like any speed really).
Anonymous

Half of all deaths from liver failure in the US every year are from acetaminophen aka paracetamol (brand names Tylenol, etc) overdose.

There have been no medically confirmed deaths from cannabis overdose ever.

One is made from petrochemicals and sold at high profits, which are used to bribe politicians. The other is a natural plant that grows all around the world for free.

So one kills hundreds of thousands of people and is legal. The other makes people feel good for free and is illegal.

The world is run by violent, amoral, profit seeking criminal syndicates but they dress in suits and have ceremonies so even many people that work for them don’t realize it.
Anonymous

These articles should really tell us if it’s any fun to take rather than how dangerous it is. I’m reliably informed that meow-meow was no fun at all. Which makes me wonder about bath salts. Is it even worth investigating?
HotPepperMan

That ‘august’ body The Caves Of Erowid has some interesting information to be found:

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/4_methylmethcathinone/
Anonymous

I tried some of the “reformulated” Spice while in Madison, WI.

Cons:
At $15 an gram, it’s no cheaper than buying an 8th of genuine weed.

The high is closer to the disconnected feeling after breathing too much paint thinner.

The high lasts for 45 minutes followed by a blunt, constant headache.

Pros:
It’s legal. But so is paint thinner.

Conclusion: If you’re scared to buy or can’t get a hold of real weed, Spice is not a good alternative.
Anonymous

I know I stopped listening to warnings about the drug after the British media claimed 5 lives had been lost to ‘Meow-Meow’ and the government subsequently made it illegal – then it turned out none of those deaths were linked to Meow Meow and in some of the cases people hadn’t even taken the drug.

If official bodies want me to take drug control seriously they should start basing their regulations on scientific studies, rather than hearsay.

Incidentally it never appealed to me anyway, and those it appeals to will still take it. So like all drug control it’s a bit of a moot point.
- turn_self_off
  
  If official bodies want me to take drug control seriously they should start basing their regulations on scientific studies, rather than hearsay.
  
  sadly, i recall that some UK politician basically stated that they would not consider scientific inputs when writing UK drug policies…
Teller

Self-induced psychosis isn’t my idea of recreation.
Anonymous

They can have my MgSO4 when they pry it from my damp wrinkly fingers!

I wonder how many people have actually confused the two? After a bender: “Steve, you feeling anything? Me neither. But sure could take a dump right about now!”
Anonymous

Mephedrone was popular in the UK a couple of years ago.

Some newspapers ran scare stories, including some attributing deaths to mephedrone. Subsequent to this the drug was banned.

After the legislation was introduced, the scare stories were mostly discredited. In particular the one story about a death caused by mephedrone was show to be untrue.

Of course, even though the stories were shown to be untrue, the legislation they helped support has not been repealed.

The truth is that the government doesn’t worry about the health impact of this . . . They simply don’t want to legalised another way to get high. One reason for this is that they’d be crucified in the press.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade+society/mephedrone
dbcooper

Thanks for the de-mythologising post.

The wacky “hey people are tripping on bath salts!” reporting angle on these stories really annoys me. The basic, underlying fact is that these are things that are merely sold as bath salts by some accident of marketing and scene convention. The basic, chemical nature of these stimulant analogues is almost never reported, let alone emphasised.
Karl Stevens

“there is at least one death that can be directly tied to the use of ‘bath salts’”

Coincidentally, that’s the same number that can be attributed to drinking tap water (although I’m sure there have been more.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/ns/us_news-life/t/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/
- Jellodyne
  
  Uh oh, I always mix my bath salts with hot tap water.
- Anonymous
  
  You sir, win the internet.
OldBrownSquirrel

“…experts say the state bans can be thwarted by chemists who need change only one molecule in salts to make them legal again.”

Right. By analogy, you could, say, change all the cocaine molecules in cocaine to water molecules and they’d be legal. Those tricky chemists! What will they think of next?

It’s sloppy science writing like this drivel from the New York Times that makes me appreciate Boing Boing.
Mitch_M

This is why the authorities should look the other way at much more fun and less dangerous drugs like marijuana, psilocybin, and mescaline.
Anonymous

I have no interest in doing “bath salts,” but what’s the justification for making them illegal? Is that really going to have the desired outcome?
Anonymous

I used to take mephedrone here in the UK. It’s intended as an analogue for ecstasy, but you know what ecstasy never did? Put me in the psychiatric hospital for two weeks. I’m still not right a year later.
Anonymous

Come on people pleeeeeasse stop chasing down the next big high. She’s already out there and it’s called coke! Just stop buying the shit stuff
- mattshow
  
  I recall watching a British documentary on “legal” drugs (mostly just mixtures of chemicals which simulated the high you got from various illegal drugs, then slapped “not for human consumption” on the packet).
  
  One of the more interesting parts was an interview with an ER doctor who basically said “If you come in and you’ve overdosed on cocaine, well, that’s bad, but at least we’ve seen cocaine. We know how it works, and we know what to do about it. If you come in overdosed on some bizarre concoction of chemicals that we’ve never seen before, then we’re not always sure what to do with you”.
  
  Stick with the classics, kids.