K2 and 'bath salts' designer drugs subject of forum
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A crowd mainly of health workers and educators learned about the recently outlawed K2 and "bath salts" drugs at a forum at Morello's Thursday hosted by the Alliance Against Drug Abuse.
While the designer drugs commonly referred to as K2 and "bath salts" are now illegal, emergency rooms and mental health workers are still seeing their effects on young people in Southern Illinois.
Camille Lambert, crisis coordinator of Egyptian Health Department, said there have been suicide cases that appear to be linked to such drugs.
A typical call for a crisis worker to an emergency room may involve someone exhibiting psychotic behavior, especially extreme paranoia.
Crisis workers must make a determination on the person's mental state. The drugs' effects sometimes produce behavior in a person similar to a schizophrenic break that most often occurs when a person is in their early 20s -- the age that appears to be most interested in K2 or "bath salts."
If the person does not admit to having taken the drugs, they could be admitted to a hospital's mental health department as there is no evidence the behavior is drug-induced.
"I'd say over the last year we've probably had 20 cases where people have told us. There is no telling how many cases where they have not told," Lambert said.
For a mental health facility to get paid for admitting a patient the patient must be given a diagnosis. Once the patient has been diagnosed with mental illness, they may no longer be able to get a Firearm Owner's Identification Card and that diagnosis may cause hardship in other areas throughout the patient's life.
"They will be carrying it with them for a long time," Lambert said.
But a stay in a mental health facility may be the best scenario. For some the effects of the drugs are so severe people have voluntarily admitted themselves.
"The sad part is the ones who don't go," Lambert said.
"We have had suicides we suspect have been linked to these drugs."
Tom McNamara, special projects coordinator of the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group, discussed each of the drugs.
The drug called "bath salts" has nothing to do with epsom salts. The label along with the words "Not intended for human consumption" for a while kept the drug legal for sale. It has most often been sold at gas stations and sex stores because it has been known to increase sex drive with infrequent use. With chronic use it causes impotence, McNamara said.
Sold in powder form usually in an amount equivalent to two single-serve sugar packets, a packages may contain about 10 hits. Those who take the full amount at once often wind up overdosing and in emergency rooms, McNamara said.
The drug is synthetically manufactured in Africa and China and shipped to the U.S. for repackaging as "bath salts." McNamara said the $30 price tag for a small package is a giveaway the product is not intended for use in a bath. In fact, if used in the bath it could give a person diarrhea, he said.
People take the drug in a variety of ways except for smoking it, he said.
The drug is a synthetic cathinone and acts as a stimulant with effects similar to methamphetamine and ecstasy, creating energy and mild hallucinations. It can also cause a person agitation, irritation, anxiety, paranoia and cause a person to be delusional, combative and very difficult to control.
"It will give you heart attacks, hypertension, arrhythmia and bluing of fingers and toes," McNamara said.
The bluish tint in the extremities is the result of constriction of the vascular system that keeps blood from circulating there. Meth and ecstasy do not seem to cause blue fingers and toes.
Long term physical effects are similar to meth. It can result in anorexia and bad teeth. Also like meth it creates a strong urge to redose after the four- to six-hour high wears off.
Brands may include Ivory Wave or Sky and may also be marketed as "plant food."
The drug is now illegal at the federal level and is also against Illinois state law. That does not mean it is no longer on some store shelves.
"If I were you, as a community, I would boycott that store. If they want to sell poison, let them. Let them, but they don't have to sell it to you or your families. They will get the idea," McNamara said.
K2 or Spice is a cannabinoid made of some type of plant that is ground up and one of five types of engineered cannabinols sprinkled onto it. It is marketed as an herbal incense and is smoked. The drug is now illegal.
Cannabinols are more powerful than tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychotropic ingredient in marijuana, McNamara said.
"It causes delusions, terrible paranoia, a lot of hallucinations and makes a person hard to control," McNamara said.
Side effects are convulsions, anxiety attacks, very high blood pressure, dangerously high heart rates, vomiting and disorientation.
People admitted to emergency rooms -- most often by family members who realize something is seriously wrong, but don't know what -- may be fearful of ER staff and anyone else.
"They are not as wired up as they are with cathinone or meth," McNamara said.
Locally, of the two, the cathinone "bath salts" are the more common and are most popular with men in their 20s, Lambert said. However, older men who work long hours are also using them for energy.
Women may also be using them for weight loss.
Egyptian Health Department CEO Angie Hampton said she fears for mothers using the drugs and entering psychotic episodes while young children are dependent on them.
"The cases we have seen have been so extreme," Hampton said.
"When their behavior is so extreme they are putting so many people at risk."
Jeff Watkins of the Alliance Against Drug Abuse board invites others to become involved with the group which is not-for-profit and meets the first Tuesday of each month at the SIC Foundation Building. Watkins is also regional director of the eastern region of the First Circuit Probation District and said the AADA also includes educators, health workers and general member of the public. He said the group intends to sponsor more drug forums in the future.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>
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