The Illicit Synthetic Drug and Drug Paraphernalia Ordinance Ban: Effect
35 WHEREAS,new herbal and/or chemical mixtures are being marketed and sold in
36 Charlotte County which are not necessarily controlled by federal or state law but which are
37 designed and marketed to mimic the effects of illegal narcotics; (Read more of of the Ordinance No. 2013-033 below)
The EFFECT is the real story – country wide the “Bath Salts” and “Herbal Incense” according to the report at the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there were 6138 calls for exposures to bath salts 2011. That was when people started to take notice and bans and/or Ordinances started to go into effect but it was not nation- wide. In 2012, that number dropped to 2691. Why Such a huge drop? I called the Florida Poison Information Center-Tampa information line #1-800-222-1222 and talked to Pam. I asked her why such a huge drop from 6000+ in 2011, 2600 in 2012 and only 994 in 2013? Pam said it was due to the ban, education, and law enforcement taking a proactive move on cracking down on stores selling the products.
The EFFECT you want is not always the Effect you get:
The following are many of the side-effects of taking “Bath Salts” and “Herbal Incense”…
Physical effects: Hypertension, Tachycardia, Diaphoresis, Headache, Bruxism, Hyperreflexia, Nausea, vomiting, Seizure, Anticholinergic effects, death.
Mental effects: Agitation, Aggression/violence ,Unpredictable behavior, Anxiety, Confusion, Acute psychosis, Alteration of time perception, Amnesia, Anxiety Dysphoria, Apathy ,Hallucinations, Paranoia, suicide.
If you’re not familiar with the dangers of the synthetic drugs, consider for a moment the effects it had on one Indiana man who climbed a roadside flagpole and jumped into traffic. They were also linked with a man in Pennsylvania who broke into a monastery and stabbed a priest. And hallucinations had a woman in West Virginia believing something was under her skin and scratched herself “to pieces” over several days. Quite gruesome when you think about the effects of the key ingredient to synthetics/man-made chemicals like mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV, also known as substituted cathinones.
Only time will tell how Charlotte County will fare with this new Ban. By the way, the state of Florida House Bill 1039, which makes possession of “bath salts” a third-degree felony has been on the books since 2011.
Chato Stewart Consumer Peer Ambassador