Three midcoast residents charged after bath salts found in vehicle - Bangor Daily News

WATERVILLE, Maine — A trio of midcoast residents are behind bars after bath salts and cash were seized from their vehicle early Saturday, police said Tuesday.

Waterville Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey said Sgt. Dan Ames stopped a vehicle traveling the wrong way on a one-way street downtown and, while he was in the process of speaking with the driver and her two passengers, discovered 3.5 ounces of the illegal drug bath salts and $1,800 cash in the glove compartment.

Arrested were Merideth Finley, 27, of Rockland, Paul Mahonen, 34, of South Thomaston, and Travis Griffin, 26, of Warren, Rumsey said.

All three suspects were charged with trafficking in bath salts, a Class B felony. Mahonen also was charged with violating conditions of release, Rumsey said.

A further investigation of the suspects’ car led to four containers that were locked. Police also seized those, according to Rumsey, and a search warrant was subsequently obtained.

When police opened the containers, they discovered another half-ounce of bath salts and $200 in cash.

Rumsey said that a large amount packaging materials and baggies were discovered in the vehicle as well.

The suspects were taken to the Kennebec County Jail, with bail set at $5,000 for each.

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"Bath salts," synthetic cannabis possession leads to citation - Harrisburg Daily Register

Harrisburg Police cited an Ozark man on charges of unlawful possession of synthetic cannabis and unlawful possession of "bath salts" Thursday morning.

Officer Tom Leverett observed a man later identified as Fred L. Brantley, 58, Ozark, leave a Harrisburg business without apparently having made a purchase, get in the passenger seat of a truck and the driver of the truck drove away on Main Street committing a traffic infraction, according to Chief Bob Smith.

Leverett stopped the vehicle and asked Brantley why he had left without purchasing anything. Brantley said he had bought items commonly known as K2 synthetic cannabis and "bath salts" which is a sort of synthetic cocaine, both of which have recently been outlawed at the federal level and by city ordinance, Smith said.

Smith declined to name the business because as of Friday morning there was not proof the items had been purchased there and intends to investigate the business, he said.

The synthetic drugs can have unpredictable and dangerous effects on people, Smith said.

He said Carbondale Police recently arrested a man who was running naked through University Mall in Carbondale under the influence of one of the drugs and it required seven Harrisburg Police Officers to restrain a man under the influence of one of the drugs at Harrisburg Medical Center.

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Burglar high on bath salts breaks into family's home, puts up Christmas ... - New York Daily News

Burglar high on bath salts breaks into home, puts up Christmas decorations  - New York Daily News NYDN Home?Collections?CopsTerry Trent, 44, has been charged with burglary after breaking into a familys…Burglar high on bath salts breaks into home, puts up Christmas decorations PHILIP CAULFIELDMonday, November 14, 2011

Snorting bath salts put one Ohio crook in the holiday spirit, police say.

Cops in Vandalia, north of Dayton, say Terry Trent, 44, was high on the designer drug when he broke into a family’s home, put up some Christmas decorations and then plopped down on a couch to watch television, local station WHIO reported.

An 11-year-old boy who lives in the house found the strung-out stranger and called his mother, Tamara Henderson, who was at a neighbor's house.

She said, "What do you mean a man is in our house? You don't know if he has a gun or if he has a knife?" the station reported.

Henderson called 911, and Trent was arrested without incident.

Cops say he was armed with a pocket knife.

But Henderson suspects the decorating bandit was just looking for a festive spot to soak in his buzz.

"The candle was lit on the coffee table, the television was on and very loud," she told the station.

"He had said to [my son] ,'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'll get my things and go.' "

Trent was charged with burglary and held in a county lockup.

Cops say he has a history of drug charges.

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Bath salt designer drugs banned - Arizona Daily Wildcat

Injecting, snorting or smoking bath salts may result in intense hallucinations that can trigger suicidal thoughts and psychotic behavior.

But these bath salts are not the kind you throw into a tub of water. These designer drugs are classified under names like “bath salts” or “plant fertilizer” as a cover. On Oct. 21, the Drug Enforcement Administration scheduled a temporary, one-year federal ban on three stimulants found in bath salts.

“The reality is, this is every bit of dangerous as any drug we’ve ever seen, if not more so,” said Keith Boesen, the managing director at the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center.
These bath salts are hallucinogenic amphetamines, Boesen said. They are known to cause hallucinations, extreme paranoia and agitation in patients.

“They think they’re constantly under attack, so they might attack other people,” he said. “Or they get into these very paranoid, depressive states … and patients have committed suicides.”

The “bath salts” label was a marketing ploy to get past U.S. regulations, Boesen said. The idea for manufacturers was to make the drugs appear as though they were selling as a bath product.

Ramona Sanchez, a public information officer for the DEA, said 37 states have taken action to control these synthetic stimulants. The DEA ban shows its commitment to keeping streets safe, she said.
“It will now be seen as a federal violation if anyone is caught in possession or selling them,” Sanchez said.

In Arizona, there are still people abusing the drugs. The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center’s statistical data covers the whole state, except for Maricopa County. Since January, 86 bath salt cases have been called in, Boesen said.

There have been a consistent number of cases every month, he said. There were nine in August, nine in September and eight in October. There were less than 10 cases for all of 2010.

Laura Denton, a physiology freshman, said bath salts still seem to be under the radar in terms of students knowing about their uses, but said the ban could be helpful.

“It’s taking away the opportunity for people to hurt themselves,” she said.

Boesen said he doesn’t know whether the bath salts are now being purchased online or at local smoke shops.

Stores such as Hippie Gypsy, Moon Smoke Shop, and Epic Smoke Hookah and Glass do not sell bath salts. But people do call in and ask about them all the time, said Marcus Letter, the store manager at Epic Smoke Hookah and Glass.

A while back, Letter said he researched the bath salts and decided there was “no way” he would sell them at the shop because of how harmful they are.

Boesen said most of the bath salt cases have involved college students and teenagers. However, the last two patients were in their 40s and 50s.

“The problem we’ve seen with bath salts is the effects seem pretty unpredictable compared to what we’ve seen with methamphetamines or cocaine,” he said.

Those suffering from the effects of the bath salts don’t necessarily respond well to conventional drugs given to them to treat the symptoms. It can sometimes take a few days for patients to come out of their delusional state, Boesen said.

“Even if you used it once and didn’t have a problem, there’s a very good chance you will have a problem eventually.”

Patients who have used the drugs for shorter periods of time have gone into psychotic and delusional states where they have been admitted to psychological facilities, he said.

People making the bath salts use cheap ingredients that may not be mixed with the same amount of chemicals each time, Boesen said. They just want to make the biggest profit.

Poison centers across the country continuously collect data on symptoms people have to help build an idea of what’s happening, he added.

“The hard part is the chemicals keep changing, so we don’t know which chemicals are causing which problems necessarily, and that’s still trying to be figured out,” Boesen said. “This is a lesson we don’t need to learn if people would stop using it.”

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Bath salts have become a problem for local law enforcement - Greene County Daily World (blog)

So-called bath salts -- one of the latest fads in synthetic stimulants -- are deemed illegal and included in a Indiana law that was effective July 1 banning synthetic marijuana products.

However, they are still showing up locally in some inmates residing in the Greene County Jail.

That's a concern for local law enforcement officers, the prosecutor's office and the courts.

GCSD Chief Deputy Major Mike Hasler recently told me that bath salts are just another thing that police agencies have to be concerned with these days.

People under the influence of bath salts are viewed as more violent in their behavior.

The county had a strangulation and domestic battery case in September in which the defendant was alleged to have been under the influence of bath salts.

Major Hasler says local officers are seeing criminal suspects on bath salts with increasing frequency.

"Actually, I think a lot of the people we deal with appear to be more violent on the bath salts. It's all bad," Hasler said. "It seems like when we have to deal with someone on bath salts there is more violence and it does take more to restrain the person."

Hasler said bath salts have not reached the epidemic proportion on a scale with methamphetamine, but he noted, "It's definitely something that is here and something that we (as a law enforcement agency) are concerned about. I think there are a lot of people that do the bath salts that don't do some of the other stuff. I think the cost of it is one factor. The other factor is when people started doing it, it wasn't illegal to do. I think the other side of it is, they got some of the same results from it where you could stay up for days. It's just seems like they are more aggressive on it."

Indiana State Sen. Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) wrote the bill making synthetic marijuana products like Spice controlled substances across Indiana. The bill also covers chemical compounds found in some products labeled as bath salts but used as a mind-altering stimulant that, until now, skirted state law.

Certain kinds of bath salts have emerged as a substance-abuse problem rivaling Spice -- the product marketed as incense but in so many cases used like marijuana. Like Spice, these mind-altering bath salts have been sold under a variety of names, including "Ivory Wave," Vanilla Sky," "Bubbles" and "Tranquility."

The two main ingredients in these dangerous so-called bath salts are actually powerful stimulants that can mimic illegal drugs like methamphetamine, amphetamine or ecstasy. Effects from ingesting the products this way can range from elevated heart rates, agitation, paranoia, hallucinations or even suicidal tendencies.

The Indiana Poison Control Center reports more than 250 cases of bath salt incidents this year.

Nationwide, the American Association of Poison Control Centers had received 2,237 calls related to bath salt products so far in 2011 -- more than seven times the number taken during all of 2010.

The senate bill also aimed at synthetic marijuana products -- herbs sprayed with hallucinogenic chemicals. When smoked, these products dangerously distort perceptions and impair coordination. Local ordinances passed by some communities lack enforcement across jurisdictions and are limited to lesser penalties and fines. Police and prosecutors asked lawmakers for a statewide ban while federal Drug Enforcement Administration officials consider a nationwide prohibition.

Now, these synthetic products are on the controlled substances list.

Another law that went into effect July 1 calls for retailers to place dissolvable tobacco products securely behind counters and away from minors. Often marketed in brightly colored, candy-like packages that can be appealing to younger consumers, dissolvable tobacco contains harmful ingredients that cause tooth decay and cancer.

Penalties for selling tobacco products to minors are also strengthened by this law.

It sure looks like our law enforcement agencies are being bombarded with a wide array of new challenges to keep our residents safe and protected.

And shame on the manufacturers who target our younger generation with harmful tobacco products masked as candy.

Let's hope the new laws will help slow down this attack on our society.

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