Mephadrone now found in bath salt, plant feed

Today, a large number of teens and college students looking for their next high are turning to bath salts and plant feed to get their fix. A synthetic stimulant and legal drug called Mephedrone is the culprit.

Although it has just recently become an issue in the U.S., mephedrone has been prevalent in other countries for years, and outlawed in most because of the dangerous effects it has had on its users.

As illegal drugs have become more and more of a problem, a new, and perhaps equally dangerous, problem has exploded onto the market. Substitutes for illegal drugs have become overnight celebrities of the legal drug world, making their debuts in convenience stores and head shops across the country, as well as being available on numerous websites.

“Instead of promoting legal or illegal drugs, healthcare providers should educate persons on the adverse effects of recreational drugs,” said Elizabeth Dawson, a certified registered nurse practitioner and staff member of the UNA infirmary, commented on the subject. “Drug-free activities should be encouraged by all.”

The substance mephedrone is often packaged and sold for as little as $20 in pill or powder form, which users can swallow, snort or inject, producing similar effects to illegal.

They are marketed under innocent-sounding names such as Ivory Wave, Bliss, White Lightening and red dove.

Dawson believes that education is key to preventing the use of these drugs.

“Trying substances for fun or because someone else did may not have the same result for you. You could be the one that experiences a detrimental effect. One can never fully know the impact that these substances will have,” Dawson said.

There are no published studies for mephadrone’s psychological and behavioral effects.

Reported negative side effects include hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, blood circulation problems, rashes, anxiety, paranoia, delusions, poor concentration, poor short-term memory, increased heart rate, abnormal heart beats, anxiety, depression, increased sweating, dilated pupils, the inability to normally open the mouth and teeth grinding. In some cases, death has even been reported.

“When a person presents to the clinic with a complaint of substance abuse, whether it is mephedrone or any other, we assess the patient physically, emotionally and mentally,” said Dawson.

Usage has resulted in an ever-growing number of 911 calls, suicides and near-death incidents, causing states like Louisiana and North Dakota to ban these legal drugs from being distributed and sold to the public.

Due to both the innocently crafted names of these products, and the lack of education about them, American teenagers have begun using these available legal drugs, unaware of the possibility that they are equally as dangerous as the substances they imitate.