Teen Trend Bath Salts: What Parents Need to Know
While they are sold over the counter, they're far from safe. Bath salts, the street name for powdery stimulants, can cause hallucinations.
Dr. Ian Smith says that while their name suggests they are innocent, they are not. "These bath salts are stimulants just like cocaine or amphetamines. They make you race." He continues, "You have these central nervous system stimulation effects and they can have serious, serious consequences down the road."
Abby, 14, shares her experience trying bath salts...
"I was just curious because everyone was talking about it and I wanted to try it and see what it was like," says Abby.
"So what did it feel like when you did it?" asks Anderson.
"You get like really hyper and you talk a lot and you just tell your feelings about everything."
While she says it felt good at first, its effects quickly turning into dangerous territory... having to go to the hospital for high blood pressure. One of her friends who also tried the stimulant became unconscious, convulsing and vomiting.
Where do teens find bath salts? Teen Expert Chelsea Krost tells Anderson that it's a lot easier than one would think...
Comments
After dealing with a "friend" who was acting very strange, and he was scaring me (crazy came to mind). I found out later he had been using "Hooka Cleaner". He is now in a mental health facility. For how long we do not know. During reasearch on this I found that it contains the same ingredient as in "bath salts" and is just as available. Two of the stories I read involved injecting it and dying. This is bigger than it looks. How many other seemingly innocent everyday products contain this ingredient?
Really for the most part these are safe. I'm 20 and went on a month-long on and off use of MDPV marketed as bath salt before it got banned in California. I've never had coke, but yeah, this is pretty damn close from what I've read. Really these kids are just too stupid to use it responsibly. A small line of salts (Taken up the nose) is equivalent to a medium/thickish line of cocaine and there will be urges to redose before it's worn off depending on your dose. For parents I would exercise caution and talk with your kids about it, but it's not what the media is making it out to be. Convulsions are rare except at high doses and hallucinations are only from sleep deprivation. That's all. 90% of hospital trips are never needed and are just from kids being dumbasses and freaking out.
On a side note, this stuff is amazing as a study aid. It's like you're more sober than when you're sober. I don't condone using it in public or at school though in case of anxiety and accidentally taking a bit too much.
At any rate I hope I provided some useful firsthand information for you all.
I remember having to take ritalin and prozac just to be allowed to go to school back when I lived in Texas simply because i was too "rowdy". Rearranged my whole nuerochemistry and im glad that I'm still able to have feelings after all those years of being a child on that stuff. Its only ironic that they are using loophole laws and new ways to make money off of the populace by just simply making new (crazy, might i add) drugs in a laboratory and distributing them the same way cigarettes are distributed. And I have to agree with Christine, thanks for making us "aware" of it, but in all honesty some things are actually better left out of sight, out of mind.
Dear Anderson,
I am a very big fan and have been watching your show since it began. I was compelled to write to your show in regards to the episode that I saw today on teen trend addictions. Unfortunately it was not due to its inspiration. I was completely appalled at today’s episode. Do you really think that you are bringing forth awareness or encouraging these new trends? Being a fan, I respect the fact that as one of the best TV reporters out there you are the one who discusses new and fresh topics. However I am very uncertain if you really considered your audience during this show? I can see this entire episode being put on CNN or a reputable news source in which the audience would be a more mature or educated audience who is interested in news and not entertainment. However, being that your show is aired throughout the evening, I can see many high school students turning on your program after school and coming upon these “smart ways to sneak alcohol” (as your guest stated).
I am a teacher in a First Nations community in Ontario and am well aware of the problems that teens endure when it comes to drugs and alcohol. I have many students who abuse drugs, and are even sniffing glue, or the latest extreme which is stealing morphine patches from elders to suck out the substance from these patches. Unfortunately I think that your show failed to show how dangerous these substances are and rather presented the recipe to create dangerous “trends”. As a teacher am I supposed to be confiscating candies from my students? We already have issues with drugs being in washrooms, their belongings, hidden in water bottles and hidden in other unexpected ways. I also dislike that you advertised where these teens are getting these new drugs or “bath salts” from such as convenience stores. I believe that this gave teens the details of where they can go to get these new drugs. I do not think this was a smart choice to discuss on air. I would really like to see that you present these issues on your other venues (CNN etc.) and not present such appealing ways for our youth to abuse drugs and alcohol. I fear that too many teens would have seen your show and thought that they are now curious and are wanting to try out these new forms of abusing drugs and alcohol. I do believe there is validity in presenting this information to adults or parents who are unaware of these new trends. However I do not believe that your day time television show was the best place to advertise these issues.
Sincerely,
Christine
wow... this show was really compelling!!!! Eye opener!!