Sweetwater To Ban Bath Salts In Addition To Fake Marijuana
SWEETWATER (CBSMiami) -- The City of Sweetwater has already outlawed synthetic marijuana and now wants to ban bath salts as well.
Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño plans to amend a city ordinance passed on May 21st to include bath salts due to a weekend incident in which Rudy Eugene, reportedly in a drug-fueled rage, took part in a cannibalistic attack and chewed off the face of a homeless man on the MacArthur Causeway before Eugene was shot and killed by a Miami police officer.
It's been reported that Eugene may have been high on "bath salts."
Miami Fraternal Order of Police president Armando Aguilar said cases related to the type of drugs known as "bath salts" are not new locally."We have seen, already, three or four cases that are exactly like this where some people have admitted taking LSD and it's no different than cocaine psychosis," Aguilar said.
The dangerous drug, which is banned in many states, but so far has no specific federal ban, is available on the street and also at many tobacco and drug paraphernalia shops under names like White China, Lady Bubbles, Dynamite, Vanilla Sky, Ivory Wave and Cloud 9.
Bath salts are a toxic cocktail of stimulants Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), mephedrone, and pyrovalerone. The Drug Enforcement Agency groups bath salts with mescaline and ephedrine, while dealers market the drug as a replacement for cocaine or a synthetic form of the hallucinogen LSD, according to CNN.
The drug can cause severe agitation, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, paranoia and symptoms of psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions. The drug can also lead to overheating of the body, which is why so many users remove their clothing. Rudy Eugene also removed his clothing, leading police to speculate he may have used the drug at some point prior to Saturday's vicious attack.
In light of the attack, the Sweetwater mayor wants to make sure bath salts aren't sold in his city.
"It's documented nationwide that children and adults go into manic or psychotic states where they try to hurt themselves or others while on synthetic highs," said Maroño. "How many more people need to die to get this epidemic under control?"
Maroño also wants to place weight and content restrictions on the sale of potpourri because he received a fake marijuana marketing package where the drug is marketed as potpourri.
The package sent to Maroño by a City of Miami business owner includes laboratory analysis reports confirming that the fake pot is "2012 compliant"- meaning it doesn't contain Schedule I substances banned by the federal government. The package also contains samples of fake pot marketed as potpourri and labeled "not for human consumption". The packages of fake pot have names that include Dr. Feel Good, Hysteria and Brain Freeze.
