After Langley student Jason* and four of his friends got high off of bath salts for the first time, three of them became instantly addicted. This new drug is being marketed as “bath salts”, similar to the way K2 is marketed as incense, and sold legally in several tobacco shops.

About a month ago the five students, who had experimented with other drugs in the past, heard about bath salts and decided to try it, thinking that it would be similar to ecstasy. “I thought ecstasy was good so I figured cheap ecstasy would be a good idea,” said Jason.

However, the drug did not work as expected. “It wasn’t worth it at all. I did it once and I’m never doing it again,” said Jason. “I could feel blood rushing through my veins. My thoughts were racing and I was lightheaded.”

Not all of Jason’s friends were as lucky as him. Three out of the five boys went on a two day binge after trying the drug, unable to stop consuming it.

The day after his bath salt experiment, Jason went to his friend’s house (one who had tried the drug with him) to find him in a frightening state. “He was on the floor ranting; he had been struck with psychosis. He thought he was a mixture of two famous musicians and that he was a government project. It took about an hour and a half to bring him back to reality,” said Jason.

Another one of the boys who went on the binge became so addicted that ultimately Jason and his friends decided to notify the boy’s parents about the situation.  “We had an intervention, and it didn’t work, so we ended up informing his parents that he was trapped and blindsided by the drug,” said Jason.

The effects of bath salts are comparative to those of methamphetamine and are extremely dangerous. Several emergency calls have been made in Fairfax County due to the effects of the drug. Some effects have even led to death.

Although this incident seems horrific, there are far worse cases than that of Jason and his friends. Common side effects of the drug include terrible hallucinations, paranoia and suicidal thoughts. Many users have hurt themselves; others have ended their lives. Bath salt users are a danger to both themselves and others.

“The effects of the drug are essentially similar to those of cocaine, but much stronger,” said Langley’s drug counselor, Ms. Dawn- Lee Evans. “What’s really scary about it is people in the ER are showing up with psychotic symptoms, similar to the ones caused by cocaine, but the meds that are typically used to treat someone on cocaine are not working on the people coming into the ER after consuming bath salts.”

Bath salts are a relatively new drug and still being researched and tested. “There’s so much that’s unknown about it still. We don’t know what’s in it and its affect on the body and brain. It’s a huge risk to put something in your body you don’t know your reaction to,” said Ms. Evans.

The drug is known to cause intense cravings like it did for Jason’s friends. Several people have been reported to go on extreme binges on bath salts for days. It is sold under names such as Ivory Wave, Bliss, White Lightning and Hurricane Charlie. The drug is typically snorted, but can be injected or smoked.

As the popularity of bath salts continues to grow, several states are beginning to illegalize the substance as a full ban is in progress.