65 in Mich. treated for 'bath salts' abuse

RAVERSE CITY, Mich.— 

Abuse of recreational drugs sold as "bath salts" has sent 65 people to hospitals in Michigan over the past six months and caused at least one overdose death, according to a federal report issued Wednesday. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the report was based on the nation's first public health investigation of emergency room cases resulting from use of "bath salts," which are not the same as products added to baths for soaking and cleaning. "Bath salt" drugs contain stimulant compounds and are intended for substance abuse, it said. 


The report focuses on an outbreak of illnesses that ran from mid-November through March and was centered in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Patients had symptoms ranging from agitation to rapid heartbeat, seizures and hallucinations. One was dead on arrival.

"These are not your mother's bath salts," said Fred Benzie, health officer with the Marquette County Department of Public Health. "These are designer drugs that are highly addictive and harmful."

Bills pending in the state Legislature would make possession of bath salt drugs and some of their stimulant components a felony.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers says there has been a sharp increase this year in the number of people seeking medical attention from abuse of synthetic drugs such as bath salts, with at least 2,700 having become ill since January. Centers in 45 states and Washington, D.C., had received calls about the problem through March 22. By April 6, they had received five times more calls about the drugs than they did last year, the CDC report said.

The first case in the Michigan study was reported Nov. 13 in Marquette. By early February, the total had risen to 13 and one person had died, the report said. Toxicology reports showed the primary cause of death was a high level of a stimulant in bath salts drugs, although the person also had smoke marijuana and taken prescription medication.

"I'd never in 22 years in law enforcement seen a drug hit a community and cause so many police-related problems so quickly," said detective Capt. Gordon Warchok of the Marquette Police Department.

The county health department issued an order Feb. 4 banning local sale of the drugs. Benzie said the primary supplier appeared to be a Marquette "head shop" -- a store that sells recreational drug paraphernalia. The drugs were labeled "White Rush," one of several monikers they've been given.

But the abuse continues there and around the state. Thirty-five patients sought hospital treatment by the end of March, including 27 in the Upper Peninsula and 18 in Marquette County. Ten of Michigan's 83 counties reported at least one case. Three people went to the hospital more than once.

The users ranged in age from 20 to 55, the report said. Nineteen were men and 16 were women. About 70 percent had abused drugs previously and nearly half had a history of mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

Injection was the most common means of taking the drug, but some people snorted or ate it, the report said.

Warchok said the local ban on sales produced a temporary slowdown. But use of bath salts has risen again as people increasingly buy the drugs online -- sometimes with different labels, he said.

"Our officers are weekly running into people under the influence with it," he said. "They recently interrupted a gathering of probably a dozen people at a local hotel and took 100 vials of White Rush out of the room."

As of May 16, the number of emergency room visits had reached 65 statewide. Doctors reported that some hallucinating users act violently, believing they are being chased by demons or enemy soldiers, said David Wade, the Michigan Department of Community Health's environmental health director.

Officials' ability to crack down on the drugs will be limited until the Legislature specifically prohibits them, Wade said. Peddlers have skirted the law by slightly modifying banned drugs and marketing them with labels such as "plant food," "bath salts" or "pond scum remover." They also include statements that the items are not for human consumption.

"But that's a wink," Wade said. "Clerks will sell them knowing full well they're going to be taken internally." 

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