Pubdate: Sun, 05 Aug 2012
Source: News Democrat (Georgetown, OH)
Copyright: 2012 Brown Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2886
Author: Carly Tamborski

BATH SALTS STILL AN ISSUE

"Bath salts are a synthetic, man-made substance," said Steven Dunkin,
executive director of the Brown County Community Board of Alcohol,
Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services. "I think they originally
came from China and India and they can be taken orally, smoked, or
injected into veins."

They are typically sold in tobacco stores, gas stations, convenience
stores, and over the internet.

"Drugs tend to be trendy," Dunkin said. "I think part of it is the
cost. Bath salts have typically been pretty inexpensive."

And lucrative.

Last November, two Georgetown men - Yogesh Patel, 32, and Bhuvnesh
Parekh, 38 - were arrested for multiple felony charges of illegal
possession of drugs and trafficking.

Search warrants were obtained by the Brown County Sheriff's Office for
the two businesses owned by the men, which included the Wild Willie's
and Shell gas stations in Georgetown.

Large amounts of K2 (a type of synthetic cannabis), bath salts, and
drug paraphernalia were allegedly found and seized from the locations
during the bust, according to the Brown County Sheriff's Office.

On Monday, July 30, both men appeared in court to set their
trials.

Patel had five counts filed against him: two counts of possession of
drugs and three counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs with spec.

Bhubnesh had eight counts filed against him: four counts of aggravated
trafficking in drugs, two counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs
with spec., and two counts of possession of drugs.

According to documents by Bhubnesh's lawyer, Firooz Namei, Bhubnesh
arrived in Southern Ohio last fall and heard that an owner of several
gas stations Ohio and Kentucky was looking for someone to run a
station in Georgetown. He claims that he only manned the cash register
and had no authority to buy merchandise for the store that led to his
arrest and indictment.

Namei, also the attorney for Patel, claims that "the products sold by
Mr. Bhubnesh are not run-of-the-mill drugs. They are certified by
their distributors to be legal."

On July 15, 2011, Gov. John Kasich signed a bill that outlawed the
sale, possession, and use of bath salts in the state of Ohio. They're
designated as a Schedule 1 drug by the federal government.

K2 has been outlawed in Ohio as well.

"Bath salts" is an informal name for a range of drugs that are
designer synthetic stimulants with amphetamine-like chemicals in them
that mimic the effects of LSD, cocaine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy.
Most bath salts contain three dominant stimulants: methedrone,
methylone, and MDPV (methylenedioxypyrevalerone).

The varying effects of bath salts can make it difficult to pinpoint
what type of drug a person is using, and how many people in Brown
County use it. For example, a person coming to the Community Board of
Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services with hallucinations
could be using LSD or bath salts, or both.

"We haven't seen a great deal in Brown County," Dunkin said. "But bath
salts are hard to recognize if the individual is using other drugs as
well."

Dunkin recently attended the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of
America's Mid-Year Training Institute, which was held July 22-26 in
Nashville. Anti-drug coalitions from around the country, including
Brown County, gathered to increase their knowledge of the fundamentals
of coalition building, strategic planning, and evaluation and research
of information pertinent to drug use-preventing communities

Bath salts were just one of many drug issues discussed at the
conference.

They're a relatively new designer drug, but gained increasing
popularity and notoriety in May when a horrific incident in Miami
garnered the drug worldwide attention due to the "zombie-like" effects
the user exhibited. Audiences learned that "bath salts" were the key
ingredient in that story, and that the drug can cause hallucinations
and paranoia for many users, and often lead to violence and fatalities.

"This has been a problem across the U.S. and Ohio and we've seen cases
of it in southern Ohio and Brown County in the past year," Dunkin
said. "We've had some cases of violence."

Other street names for the drug include: Ivory Snow, Sextacy,
Hurricane Charlie, Vanilla Sky, Purple Wave, White Knight, Drone,
White Dove, and Gold Rush.

In May, six people in Warren County were charged after police said
they sold "bath salts" at a Marathon station on Ohio 48 in Lebanon.

Once Kasich made it illegal, manufacturers found loopholes to still
make and sell the drug.

"Since it's a synthetic substance, the manufacturer can change the
chemical makeup of the drug a little bit and basically have the same
substances but be able to generate a debate as to whether or not it
can still be labeled 'bath salt,'" Dunkin said.

"Anytime people are taking these substances that aren't produced for
medical needs, that they've just put into their body, it can have
harmful effects," Dunkin said. "I just get concerned that people don't
really understand what they're putting into their bodies and the
ramifications it has. In terms of brain chemistry and how your body
works, it would affect one person very differently than another."

Patel's trial by jury will be Oct. 15, and Bhubnesh's will be Oct.
29.
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MAP posted-by: Matt