Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jun 2012
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Heather Scoffield
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Bath+Salts

TORIES SEEK 'BATH SALTS' BAN AFTER THE GRISLY U.S. FACE-EATING ATTACK

OTTAWA - The key ingredient in a controversial street drug linked to 
a Florida attacker who chewed off a man's face should be illegal in 
Canada by this fall, the federal government says.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Tuesday that she is rushing 
the process to ban MDPV - a synthetic substance that has around since 
the 1960s, but is now being mixed to make what is known as bath salts.

"Let's be clear. These are not typical household bath salts. They are 
not the Epsom salts or the scented crystals that you find in many 
Canadian homes and pharmacies," Aglukkaq told reporters. "These are 
drugs, serious drugs." The drug, which can resemble the harmless bath 
additive, has gained notoriety since the vicious May 26 attack in 
Miami, where police shot and killed a man who tore his victim's face 
apart with his teeth.

"This drug, along with the behaviours associated to those who have 
been using the bath salts, are a serious concern to the police and 
many others in our communities," said Fredericton police chief Barry 
MacKnight, chair of the drug-abuse committee of the Canadian 
Association of Chiefs of Police. He said the substance is hard to 
track in Canada, since it is legal here for now. But there are 
growing signs it is spreading, mainly in eastern Canada for now, but 
increasingly in Ontario and in the West.

"This is sending a strong message to Canadians and especially young 
Canadians, that this drug is harmful, while also allowing enforcement 
agencies to deal with those who victimize some of the most vulnerable 
in our communities - the young and those suffering from addiction - 
by selling this drug," MacKnight said.

In Florida, it wasn't clear why 31-year-old Rudy Eugene - a man 
described by family as a sweet person who didn't drink much or use 
hard drugs - suddenly attacked Ronald Poppo, 65, alongside a busy 
highway, apparently without provocation.

Surveillance video from a nearby building shows Eugene pulling Poppo 
from the shade, stripping and pummelling him before appearing to 
hunch over and then lie on top of him.

A witness described Eugene ripping at Poppo's face with his mouth and 
growling at a Miami police officer, who shot and killed the attacker.

Media reports suggest police and medical experts believe the bizarre 
attack was fuelled by MDPV, which police say is usually marketed as a 
form of ecstasy.

For now, since ecstasy is illegal, police in Canada can seize bath 
salts if dealers are marketing the substance as ecstasy, said Cpl. 
Luc Chicoine, a pharmaceutical and synthetic drug expert with the RCMP.

But if it is masked as a plant food or potpourri, the police can't do 
much, Chicoine said.

Experts say the drug mimics the effects of certain stimulants, 
causing agitation and increased heart rate and blood pressure, as 
well as paranoia, hallucinations and aggressive behaviour.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom