Senator Schumer Tries To Ban Snorting Bath Salts

An example of the type of bath salts that would be the subject of new federal law.

Chuck Schumer, the senior Senator from New York, is not happy about the creative use of bath salts (smoking or snorting them for a speedy high) and has plans to make them federal controlled substances. Report from Reuters:

Two drugs that produce a “meth-like” high and are being sold under the guise of “bath salts” would be banned as federally controlled substances under a bill unveiled by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York.

“These so-called bath salts contain ingredients that are nothing more than legally sanctioned narcotics, and they are being sold cheaply to all comers, with no questions asked, at store counters around the country,” said Schumer, a Democrat.

Schumer said he will introduce a bill to outlaw the two synthetic drugs — mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV. The drugs come in powder and tablet form and are ingested by snorting, injection, smoking and, less often, by use of an atomizer.

Users experience an intense high, euphoria, extreme energy, hallucinations, insomnia and are easily provoked to anger, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is currently investigating the drugs.

They have emerged as legal alternatives to cocaine and methamphetamines, and one or both have already been banned in the European Union, Australia, Canada, and Israel. In the United States, Florida, Louisiana and North Dakota have all recently banned the substances…

[continues at Reuters]