Source: AAPCC

http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/NewsandEvents/NewsMediaResources.aspx

Poison Control Centers Applaud DEA’s Ban of Bath Salts

ALEXANDRIA, VA – America’s 57 poison control centers are applauding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s recent ban of the chemicals used in synthetic drugs labeled as “bath salts,” according to Dr. Richard Dart, president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers and director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.

Poison centers first raised the alarm about bath salts in December 2010 after they started receiving calls about people having serious reactions to the chemicals, such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia, and delusions. In 2010, poison centers received 303 calls about exposures to bath salts. That number rose dramatically in 2011; between January 1 and August 31, poison centers received 4,720 calls.

“Poison centers were instrumental in getting the word out to law enforcement, the medical community and the public about these extremely dangerous drugs,” Dart said. “We commend the DEA for banning the chemicals in bath salts, which have injured and killed too many people and destroyed too many lives.”

The products, which have nothing to do with bathing, have been sold on the Internet and at gas stations and head shops. They contain chemicals that