Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jun 2012
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Authors: Clara Ho and Sherri Zickefoose

BATH SALTS RAISE RED FLAG

Police say they need to re-evaluate how they respond after a call to 
the city's first suspected bath salts case went awry when an officer 
was hurt while struggling with a man believed to be high on the drug.

"We missed the mark on this one. It's an eye-opener for us and we'll 
have to evaluate more carefully in the future," said duty inspector 
Paul Stacey. "In the future, we won't get caught like this again."

Two officers arrived at a home in Bridlewood on Saturday about 10: 30 
a.m. after receiving a call from parents concerned their 21-year-old 
son had used bath salts.

The drug, which looks like the harmless bath additive, has been 
linked to a case in May where a Florida attacker chewed off part of a 
man's face.

"It was clear he had experienced something unusual," Stacey said. 
"The goal was simply to apprehend him and ensure he got medical help."

But the man refused to take direction and struggled with officers. 
Though slight in stature, he was strong and appeared "impervious" to 
pain, Stacey said, adding the only way to deal with him was to overpower him.

During the struggle, a female officer struck her head and injured her 
hand. She was taken to the hospital as a precaution and later released.

Additional units were called to help and it took four or five 
officers to subdue the man.

He was taken to hospital in stable condition, said EMS spokesman Adam 
Loria, adding the man was "visibly anxious and agitated."

Stacey said there were no drugs at the scene to be seized so it's 
going to be difficult to confirm whether they were bath salts.

The drug can be snorted, ingested, smoked and can be pressed in a 
pill or placed in a capsule, police spokes-man Kevin Brookwell said this month.

Symptoms include foaming at the mouth, breathing rapidly, rapid heart 
rate and overheating, he'd said, adding the drug mimics the effects 
of other stimulants such as ecstasy and methamphetamine.

The drug is at present legal in Canada and readily available for 
purchase online. However, the federal government is trying to ban the 
drug's key ingredient, MDPV, a synthetic substance that's been around 
since the 1960s.

The news of the first apparent Calgary bath salts case comes as city 
council turned down a proposal to spend $150,000 on drug addiction 
education, with the majority agreeing that drug awareness falls into 
the province's jurisdiction.

But Ald. John Mar said the program is needed to prevent deaths, and 
he criticized his colleagues for "passing the buck."

"We've seen that in the past, we know this is going to be an ongoing 
issue, whether it's bath salts or whatever the next drug of choice 
will be, we know that Calgarians are going to die," Mar said. "The 
best thing for us to do is get ahead of this and get into the 
community, get to the youths utilizing these drugs and do some 
serious crime prevention."

Mar, a former RCMP officer, said he will bring the matter up with the 
police and provincial government.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he was reluctant to support the campaign 
because it sounded like a knee-jerk response in February.

"And today, months later when it came back, it still felt like, 
'Let's throw some money at this without any plan in place.' If we're 
going to spend city money in an area that isn't really city 
jurisdiction, then I would expect we want to spend it in an area 
where we know there's really high impact."

With files from Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom