With the story of the brutal Memorial Day attack on a homeless man in Miami making national headlines, Americans are suddenly aware of the dangers posed by the relatively new designer drug known as “bath salts.” The dangers of these drugs were known long before that time, however, and here in Virginia, Lynchburg Del. Scott Garrett was taking action to stop it.
“Bath salts”–not to be confused with actual bath salts one might find at a spa–is a synthetic version of LSD made with mostly legal ingredients. The resulting 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. Users of the drug experience hallucinations, lose touch with reality and can exhibit psychotic behavior.
As early as 2011, Del. Garrett, a practicing surgeon, was aware of bath salts and other synthetic drugs and used his position in the House of Delegates to warn central Virginians about the risks of these drugs. During the recent 2012 session, Del. Garrett introduced HB 508 to amend an earlier, circumscribed ban on synthetic drugs. HB 508, which passed the House unanimously and will go into law one month from today, expanded that ban by applying a “more generic definition” of synthetic drug, rather than identifying the specific chemical compound. Drug makers had been circumventing the old law by changing their formulas to include substances not covered by the ban.
Passing a law to ban such designer drugs that not only harm the user, but, as witnessed earlier this week in Miami, innocent bystanders, as well, won’t stop their manufacture and usage, but it’s a step in the right direction. Del. Garrett’s medical knowledge is truly a unique, and much needed asset to the General Assembly.
