FloridaDeathTrip
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 66
Like I said tranquility bathsalts contained MDPV and now there's proof.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi used her emergency powers on Wednesday to ban products containing MDPV, a chemical stimulant that has reportedly spurred people into violent episodes around Florida in recent months.
Florida is the second state in the nation, after Louisiana, to ban the chemical.
The powders are now controlled in the same category as heroin and cocaine. The compound — sold as "bath salts" under names such as Blue Silk, TranQuility and White Lightning — has landed dozens of users in mental hospitals and emergency rooms in recent months, according to authorities.
The ban criminalizes the product for 90 days, and legislative leaders at a Wednesday news conference indicated they would act to permanently ban it in the lawmaking session that starts in March.
The first step is getting the powders off store shelves, state authorities said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Thursday began notifying shops, police departments and sheriff's offices via letter about the statewide ban, which took effect immediately.
"If you have already purchased those products, please call your local law enforcement agency right away," FDLE spokeswoman Heather Smith said Thursday.
There is no grace period to get rid of the items, Smith said. Law enforcement officials will start making arrests if retailers and users disregard the warnings.
These bath salts are not related to the scented products added to baths to help with relaxation.
On Thursday, Broward Sheriff's Office deputies checked local shops for the banned products, but none turned up. The new law is a burden for the agency, which has not encountered abuse problems, said Sheriff Al Lamberti.
"Now we're going to have to devote scarce resources to this, which is one more thing on our plates," Lamberti said Thursday.
At this point, toxicology tests can't detect MDPV, so a new test needs to be developed, he said. Parents should be checking their kids' rooms and backpacks for odd packages, he added.
As of Wednesday, 61 calls have come in to poison control centers in Florida reporting misuse of the "bath salts." Florida has the second-highest volume of related calls after Louisiana, poison control officials said.
High blood pressure, hallucinations and paranoia have been reported, mostly among people ages 16 to 30, according to the Florida Poison Information Network. While several calls came from South Florida, the biggest scares happened in the Panama City Beach area earlier this month.
Psychotic reactions to snorting the "bath salts" reportedly led one woman to swing a machete at her 71-year-old mother in an attempt to behead her, Panama City Beach police said. Also, a man high on the brand Blue Silk tore up the backseat of a patrol car with his teeth after seven Bay County Sheriff's Office deputies wrestled the crazed man into the cruiser, the agency said.
These shocking events, plus concerns about the arrival of Spring Breakers, spurred Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen to ask business owners to take the products off their shelves. This week, he asked Bondi to take emergency action.
She acted quickly, she said, out of fear that someone would soon die of an overdose.
In the coming weeks, FDLE will meet with prosecutors and police to see what long-term changes will need to be made. One of the things they will discuss with crime labs is the blood tests.
Possession of MDPV is now a third-degree felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sale of the chemical is a second-degree felony with a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Employees at three South Florida stores that once carried the "bath salts" declined to comment about the ban on Thursday.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi used her emergency powers on Wednesday to ban products containing MDPV, a chemical stimulant that has reportedly spurred people into violent episodes around Florida in recent months.
Florida is the second state in the nation, after Louisiana, to ban the chemical.
The powders are now controlled in the same category as heroin and cocaine. The compound — sold as "bath salts" under names such as Blue Silk, TranQuility and White Lightning — has landed dozens of users in mental hospitals and emergency rooms in recent months, according to authorities.
The ban criminalizes the product for 90 days, and legislative leaders at a Wednesday news conference indicated they would act to permanently ban it in the lawmaking session that starts in March.
The first step is getting the powders off store shelves, state authorities said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Thursday began notifying shops, police departments and sheriff's offices via letter about the statewide ban, which took effect immediately.
"If you have already purchased those products, please call your local law enforcement agency right away," FDLE spokeswoman Heather Smith said Thursday.
There is no grace period to get rid of the items, Smith said. Law enforcement officials will start making arrests if retailers and users disregard the warnings.
These bath salts are not related to the scented products added to baths to help with relaxation.
On Thursday, Broward Sheriff's Office deputies checked local shops for the banned products, but none turned up. The new law is a burden for the agency, which has not encountered abuse problems, said Sheriff Al Lamberti.
"Now we're going to have to devote scarce resources to this, which is one more thing on our plates," Lamberti said Thursday.
At this point, toxicology tests can't detect MDPV, so a new test needs to be developed, he said. Parents should be checking their kids' rooms and backpacks for odd packages, he added.
As of Wednesday, 61 calls have come in to poison control centers in Florida reporting misuse of the "bath salts." Florida has the second-highest volume of related calls after Louisiana, poison control officials said.
High blood pressure, hallucinations and paranoia have been reported, mostly among people ages 16 to 30, according to the Florida Poison Information Network. While several calls came from South Florida, the biggest scares happened in the Panama City Beach area earlier this month.
Psychotic reactions to snorting the "bath salts" reportedly led one woman to swing a machete at her 71-year-old mother in an attempt to behead her, Panama City Beach police said. Also, a man high on the brand Blue Silk tore up the backseat of a patrol car with his teeth after seven Bay County Sheriff's Office deputies wrestled the crazed man into the cruiser, the agency said.
These shocking events, plus concerns about the arrival of Spring Breakers, spurred Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen to ask business owners to take the products off their shelves. This week, he asked Bondi to take emergency action.
She acted quickly, she said, out of fear that someone would soon die of an overdose.
In the coming weeks, FDLE will meet with prosecutors and police to see what long-term changes will need to be made. One of the things they will discuss with crime labs is the blood tests.
Possession of MDPV is now a third-degree felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sale of the chemical is a second-degree felony with a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Employees at three South Florida stores that once carried the "bath salts" declined to comment about the ban on Thursday.
