Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jan 2013
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Joe Fiorito

BATH SALTS, ECSTASY AND TORONTO

One morning, a few weeks before the holidays, I was on my way to a
meeting to learn what I could about designer drugs.

I do so like to keep up.

I had a little time to kill, so I took a leisurely stroll across the
Ryerson campus and happened to bump into a friend who was on her way
to work.

We exchanged pleasantries, and she asked where I was going, and I said
I was on my way to learn about the drug known as bath salts.

She said she thought bath salts was a myth, and she is a smart young
woman, and that confirmed my reasons for wanting to know more.

No myth, bath salts.

It is a designer drug, one of those scurvy concoctions created to
mimic illegal drugs, and so to avoid existing laws.

Bath salts mimic cocaine.

The creativity extends beyond the chemical formulation - bath salts
may be known as ivory wave, vanilla sky, monkey dust, or Hurricane
Charlie.

Such clever names make such drugs seem innocent, according to the
young people who made the presentation; they are university students
studying in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology.

Bath salts stimulate the central nervous system. In addition to the
high, the drug may produce hallucinations, paranoia, violent
behaviour, chest pain, blurry vision, an increase in temperature, and
panic attacks. There is also the possibility of damage to the liver,
the kidneys or the heart, and the possibility of suicide.

Sniffer dogs cannot detect bath salts. It has the dubious virtue of
being cheap. It comes in the form of a crystalline powder and may be
snorted, ingested, taken rectally or under the tongue, or injected
into muscle.

It is mostly found in Atlantic Canada but its use is spreading, and
its success stirs the development of new designer drugs.

My mind wandered as the meeting progressed. I was reminded of my
youth. It was the Sixties, man, and so I smoked a bit.

I also fiddled very briefly with some other stuff, but I stopped
because I didn't like how long it took for me to get my brain back.

What astounds me, in retrospect, is how careless I was in those days,
and how trusting of complete strangers who said, "Try this, it's good."

The most foolish gamble of all is to put your consciousness into the
hands of someone you don't know.

What snapped me back into focus at the meeting was when I heard one of
the young scientists say that LSD was making something of a comeback.

The versions available these days apparently give a longer, milder
high, but produce the same colours, shapes and distortions.

I still shudder.

There were several other designer drugs mentioned, in particular
something known as ecstasy. You are probably familiar with that name.
It, too, was formulated to duck the law.

It is known as the dancing drug and it provokes hallucination and
hyperactivity, which are apparently what you want when you dance these
days.

Plus ca change.

Take too much and you may experience delirium, confusion, anxiety, or
death if you happen to be taking antidepressants.

If you use ecstasy, you are cautioned to drink lots of water, which is
why water is so expensive at raves - it brings in more profit than the
drug.

Alcohol exaggerates its effects. Use it with marijuana and you are
hippy flipping; use it with LSD and you are candy flipping.

And any caution I might utter now sounds hypocritical to my own ears,
given some of the things I have done in the past. But I will say is
this:

I'm glad I'm not a kid any more. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D