They are just scratching the surface with designer drugs but opiates dominate the drug market on the streets where cocaine use to be king.
Synthetics drugs are formulated in chemical and pharmaceutical labs around the world. Many substances were originally developed as possible new prescription drugs but were shelved because of bad side effects or because they did not do the job they were intended to do. Chemists have taken these original formulas and duplicated them or modified them slightly to make them into new substances that might not yet be illegal, depending on the national and local laws in the area where they will eventually be sold.
Inventors of the drugs were often staff in the labs of major pharmaceutical companies. Now, the drugs are mostly manufactured in illicit plants in India, China or Pakistan, countries known for their sophisticated chemical manufacturing industries. The drugs are then smuggled to other parts of Asia or Europe, Australia, Africa or North America. A few pounds of raw chemicals can bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in an affluent marketplace like the US.
These drugs can be purchased from drug dealers who work with smugglers, or they can easily be purchased online. There are many websites offering to sell these “research chemicals” to anyone with the money to buy them.
Most of these substances cannot yet be detected on drug tests which is why many people want to use them. Some branches of the military have had problems with soldiers or sailors abusing these drugs, but now there are drug tests for the most popular of these substances. Teens, people on probation, people who may be drug tested for their jobs - these new synthetics appeal to these groups and others want to get high without getting busted by police or employers. Lawmakers work hard to keep the laws current with the new drugs on the market but right now, there are just too many new substances being developed and sold.
It should be emphasized that abuse of any of these drugs is accompanied by a severe risk of addiction with the inevitable decline in morals and character that go along with it. Serious mental disturbance can also occur at any time with most any of these drugs. But with most of them, there are also risks to health that a person abusing them may simply choose to ignore. You’re about to learn about those risks.
Any drug abuse is accompanied by danger. Those dangers could include overdose, addiction, loss of self-respect, damage to relationships with family, criminal prosecution, injury while impaired, and more. The potential for harm from abuse of synthetics is so drastic and cruel that every parent should be taking steps to explain the potential for harm to their children - very thoroughly, very specifically.
Here are some specific examples of the extreme and unpredictable damage caused from using these drugs: (Warning: This is nasty stuff.)
- In Louisiana at the end of 2010, Dickie Sanders snorted bath salts, then became erratic, despondent and, finally, psychotic. Terrified by hallucinations, he cut his own throat while standing in the kitchen with his father. The wound was repaired but the 21-year-old managed to find a gun the next day and kill himself.
- In 2011 in Washington, two young parents killed their young son and then drove away. Their fast and erratic driving attracted the police who chased them until the father pulled over, shot his wife and then himself. Bath salts were found in the father’s pockets, in the car and in the home where the child was killed.
- In August 2012 in New Jersey, a 33-year-old mother decapitated her toddler and then stabbed herself to death. She had smoked marijuana treated with PCP, a concoction currently street-known as ‘Wet,’ (because the joint is dipped in liquid PCP.)
- In September 2012 also in New Jersey, a 31-year-old man high on PCP and marijuana broke into a neighbor’s home and cut the throats of two children, killing one of them.
- In December 2012 in Texas, 17-year-old Emily Bauer smoked a substance sold as synthetic marijuana. It is commonly labeled as ‘Spice,’ advertised as incense or potpourri. Emily had a series of strokes that left her violently psychotic. Days later, swelling in her brain nearly killed her, leaving her blind and disabled.
- In July 2013 in Taiwan, a 17-year-old boy took a new drug called the “N-Bomb” (technically ‘25I-NBOMe’). He became violently sick and delusional. He struggled with family trying to stop him, then dived off a high rise balcony to his death.
You certainly don’t need to tell your children these terrible stories. And in many cases, you should not.
‘Scare tactics’ sometimes inflame the imagination which simmers until it finally triggers a stimulus-response obsessive curiosity. Young people, after all, as well as many adults are now fascinated with the cult phenomenon of zombies and the undead, etc. There are popular television shows. There is Halloween. The Hispanic ‘Day of the Dead.’ This is all intended to be fun, fooling around today, but earlier in our civilization the fears generated by ‘witches’ and ‘demons’ sometimes led to social hysteria.
On the other hand, complex, toxic chemicals, unresearched for safety, known to create delusional or worse effects, being actively marketed to your children under the names ‘Spice’ or ‘K2’ or ‘Diesel’ (among other names) are another matter. This is a very serious matter for the health of your loved ones. Between 2010 and 2011 alone, U.S. emergency room visits from smoking Spice increased 2.5 times to 28,531.
Having a more informed understanding yourself, you do need to tell your children that use of these drugs can have FATAL consequences either for them or someone close to them.
An Introduction to Narconon
DRUG INFORMATION
“Bath salts” is one of the newest drugs to hit the streets. These drugs have nothing to do with bathing. They are called bath salts because they are usually packaged as a product “for a soothing bath, not for human consumption.” Before the drugs making up bath salts were illegal, this kept sellers from having the drugs confiscated. Sellers were usually convenience stores, head shops and similar businesses.
These drugs have now been made illegal in the United States, so their sale is carried out more covertly.
Bath salts may be ingested, snorted or injected. Small foil packages are often left behind, evidence of bath salts consumption.
They may be labeled:
- Blue silk
- Zoom
- Ivory Wave
- Purple Wave
- Red Dove
- White Lightning
- Cloud Nine
- Or many other names
A variety of chemicals make up bath salts. These include mephedrone (a popular and problematic drug in the UK), pyrovalerone and methylenedioxyprovalerone (MPDV). The most serious results come from snorting or injecting. While these are three of the most common chemicals sold as bath salts, there are dozens of others that may be used. This makes treatment in the case of overdose or adverse effects very difficult.
They act as strong stimulants and may be sought by a person who normally uses cocaine or methamphetamine. They are strongly addictive and trigger intense cravings. Even a person who sees that they are experiencing harm from abuse of these drugs may not be able to stop himself.
