Bath salts cannot be safely snorted or smoked. Any use of these drugs is dangerous.
Are Bath Salts Legal?
Bath salts are often referred to as “legal highs” due to the fact that individuals can purchase them from general stores, head shops, or online.
Immediately following use, the person will likely feel effects similar to those associated with cocaine or ecstasy use, such as an adrenaline rush or sense of euphoria. Some users report that the high associated with bath salts is terrifying.
Although bath salts can be purchased relatively easy online, the effects of abuse are dangerous and can be lethal.
What are Bath Salts?
Bath salts gained popularity as a drug in the United States in 2010. From teenagers to adults in their 40s, many demographics began using them.
Users stated that they achieved a high similar to ecstasy, cocaine, or methamphetamine. After gaining notoriety from social media, bath salts have become more prevalent and widely available.
Bath salts can be taken orally in pill or capsule form. They can also be smoked, injected, or snorted. All methods of abuse are considered to be extremely dangerous.
Snorting Bath Salts
While there are a number of different ways to consume bath salts, most people will snort them.
Similar to cocaine, the user will place the bath salts on a flat surface and likely into a line before snorting the salts into their nose. They may also do “bumps” (taking smaller, more frequent doses) to keep their high going for an extended period of time.
Smoking Bath Salts
Another common method of consumption is for individuals to smoke bath salts.
Some users will roll the salts into papers like a cigarette and smoke them this way, while others will use a pipe. In either instance, the bath salts are lit, and the person inhales the substance.
Effects Of Bath Salts
The primary substance that causes the “high” associated with bath salts is methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV).
MDPV is a synthetic, cathinone-derivative that operates as a central nervous stimulant. It results in erratic behavior and harmful physical effects. The overall high can last anywhere between six and eight hours.
According to the American Journal of Medicine, there are many behavioral symptoms of bath salt consumption.
- Panic attacks
- Unease
- Extreme paranoia
- Delusions
- Psychosis
- Suicidal ideation
- Nervousness
- Self-mutilation
- Aggressive or violent behavior
There are also physical symptoms of use.
- Tachycardia
- Hypertension
- Arrhythmias
- Hyperthermia
- Sweating
- Rhabdomyolysis
- Seizures
- Stroke
- Cerebral edema
- Myocardial infarction
- Cardiorespiratory collapse
- Death
The Brain
Although studies have been conducted on the effects of MDPV on the brains of rats, minimal studies have been done in humans.
Methylone blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin transporters, releasing high levels of each that typically do not go away until hours — or sometimes days — later.
As MDPV acts on the brain, the adverse behavioral and physical symptoms begin to show.
Neural communication between regions of the brain becomes widely disrupted and causes patients to suffer cognitive dysfunction, hallucinations, and psychosis.
In fatal cases, patients generally suffer anoxic brain injury (brain injury typically resulting from something other than trauma, such as oxygen deprivation). Recovery is extremely rare.
The Body
Just as MDPV dangerously affects the brain, it also has harmful effects on the body. One particularly dangerous symptom of MDPV is hyperthermia.
In several cases, people have mistakenly ingested bath salts rather than what they thought to be Molly (MDMA) or cocaine. Their body temperature rose dramatically, and organs began to shut down. The end result was death.
No Safe Use
While studies are still emerging, the consensus is that bath salts are dangerous and can be lethal. Users describe the high as uncontrollable, and the physical and behavioral symptoms following ingestion can be incredibly harmful.
Although the high does generally dissipate, repeated use will cause users to develop a tolerance to the drug. They will then require higher dosages to achieve a high.
There is no recommended dosage to get high on bath salts. Too much in one sitting can result in irreversible brain anoxia, hyperthermia and/or rhabdomyolysis.
Many bath salt users reported feeling excited delirium syndrome, which makes the individual feel unexpected strength, psychomotor agitation, and ultimately hyperthermia. Between the undisputable symptoms that come with ingesting bath salts, the user becomes a danger to themselves as they are no longer at the same level of self-awareness.
Despite being easily accessible, bath salts are extremely dangerous. There is no way to snort or smoke these synthetic drugs safely.
