Next Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m., the Verona Municipal Alliance Committee is sponsoring a short presentation in the Verona Community Center’s Fireman’s Room for parents of high school and middle school students about the dangers of so-called bath salts.
We’re not talking about the Epsom salts that your grandma used to throw in her foot baths. This is a new designer drug that is sometimes known as MDPV because of the presence of methylenedioxypyrovalerone in it. Poison centers across the U.S. are reporting growing numbers of calls about this synthetic stimulant and many states, including New Jersey, are banning bath salts.
According to VMAC, a non-profit that works to educate Verona about drug and alcohol abuse, while the federal Drug Enforcement Administration does not regulate bath salts, they are under federal scrutiny because their effects are comparable to methamphetamine abuse. They were banned in New Jersey on Thursday, April 28, and are being confiscated from retail shelves by state and local law enforcement officials. The salts are sold in convenience stores and on the Internet under names like “Ivory Wave”, “White Lightning” and “Hurricane Charlie”. They can cause hallucinations, paranoia, rapid heart rates, severe chest pains, jerky motions and suicidal or homicidal thoughts and actions. They are intended to be snorted, injected, or smoked, and a small packet costs as little as $20. For more information contact Essex Prevention Services at 973-571-2324.
An earlier version of this story had the date of the information session as May 12. It is May 19.
