Neuropharmacology Publishes Results of Alarming Bath Salts Study in Its August Issue

[poledriver]

Neuropharmacology Publishes Results of Alarming Bath Salts Study in Its August Issue

LOS ANGELES, July 31, 2013 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently reported the number of new synthetic drugs such as Bath Salts rose by more than 50 percent in less than three years.

Why? According to Meg Higgins, owner of the recovery network, Her Miracle in Los Angeles, CA it’s very simple. “Bath Salts are cheap, easily found and they don’t show up on standard drug tests. Drug users across the country are always looking for the next drug they can use that won’t get them fired from work, kicked out of their sober living home or sent back to jail for breaking parole.”

These are NOT what you find in Bed Bath And Beyond. They are a new group of designer drugs sold as tablets, capsules, or powder and purchased in places such as tobacco and convenience stores, gas stations, head shops, and the Internet. These drugs mimic stimulant Cocaine, hallucinogenic LSD, and stimulant methamphetamine, or “Meth.” They are sold under harmless names like: Ivory Wave, M-cat, Vanilla Sky, and Bliss.

A study being published in the August issue of Neuropharmacology reveals Bath Salts appear to be far more addictive than the drug Meth, already feared for its dangerously addictive qualities. In the study, tests showed rats worked more than 10 times harder to get the Bath Salts vs. the Meth.



“Adding Bath Salts to standard drug testing protocol is imperative,” says southern CA interventionist, Dr. Louise Stanger Ed. D, LCSW, CIP. “I have seen the devastation this drug has done to families. Bath salts are highly addictive and have been shown to cause permanent cognitive impairment. We can’t intervene or treat these people properly without definitive testing.”

On the legal front there are concerns as well. “Without effective screening for Bath Salts, my clients with drug cases know they can continue to use without any real consequences to the court or probation,” says Jeffrey Merrick, Esq., an alternative sentencing specialist. “One of the big selling points of these designer drugs is that they are not illegal and don’t show up on drug tests. Without real consequences, even clients in treatment centers and sober living homes may continue using these drugs.”

Bath Salts are not going away. Their popularity is growing at a concerning rate. “Even the US Navy is worried,” says Higgins (Her Miracle Recovery Network). “They released a graphic and pretty shocking PSA on Bath Salts! As recovery professionals, it’s crucial we keep up with the times. That means keeping up with the ability to detect new designer drugs and get help for the people taking them.”

Release Contact: Mollie Durkin, 424-235-9494

References:

1. US NAVY PSA “Bath Salts: It’s not a fad…It’s a nightmare.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhlaHwnErBI

2. Neuropharmacology. 2013;71:130-140. Abstract The study was funded by grants from the US Public Health Service. The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Her Miracle Recovery Network

Many links within the article -

http://news.gnom.es/pr/neuropharmac...alarming-bath-salts-study-in-its-august-issue

 

[slimvictor]

More addictive than Meth? Sounds pretty scary.
Too bad that all drugs are not legal - nobody would have to use this unknown shit.
Better to stick with safer drugs with a longer history of use and better-understood safety profile.

They are sold under harmless names like: Ivory Wave, M-cat, Vanilla Sky, and Bliss.

Thank God that those names are harmless. I am scared of harmful names.

 

[slimvictor]

Abstract
Recreational use of the cathinone derivative 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV; “bath salts”) has increased worldwide in past years, accompanied by accounts of health and legal problems in the popular media and efforts to criminalize possession in numerous jurisdictions. Minimal information exists on the effects of MDPV in laboratory models. This study determined the effects of MDPV, alongside those of the better studied stimulant d-methamphetamine (METH), using rodent models of intravenous self-administration (IVSA), thermoregulation and locomotor activity. Male Wistar rats were trained to self-administer MDPV or METH (0.05 mg/kg/infusion, i.v.) or were prepared with radiotelemetry implants for the assessment of body temperature and activity responses to MDPV or METH (0–5.6 mg/kg s.c.). METH and MDPV were consistently self-administered within 10 training sessions (mg/kg/h; METH Mean = 0.4 and Max = 1.15; MDPV Mean = 0.9 and Max = 5.8). Dose-substitution studies demonstrated that behavior was sensitive to dose for both drugs, but MDPV (0.01–0.50 mg/kg/inf) showed greater potency and efficacy than METH (0.1–0.25 mg/kg/inf). In addition, both MDPV and METH increased locomotor activity at lower doses (0.5–1.0 mg/kg, s.c.) and transiently decreased activity at the highest dose (5.6 mg/kg, s.c.). Body temperature increased monotonically with increasing doses of METH but MDPV had a negligible effect on temperature. Stereotypy was associated with relatively high self-administered cumulative doses of MDPV (∼1.5 mg/kg/h) as well as with non-contingent MDPV administration wherein the intensity and duration of stereotypy increased as MDPV dose increased. Thus, MDPV poses a substantial threat for compulsive use that is potentially greater than that for METH.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390813001408

 

[scureto1]

What a horribly written article. I mean, they always are, but this one is particuarly bad. It fails in pretty much every regard:

These drugs mimic stimulant Cocaine, hallucinogenic LSD, and stimulant methamphetamine, or “Meth.” They are sold under harmless names like: Ivory Wave, M-cat, Vanilla Sky, and Bliss.

English: Why does cocaine get to be capitalized but methamphetamine doesn't? (except when it is being abbreviated...?)

Scientific relevance: The referenced article is about MDPV, but "M-Cat" is a nickname for 4-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone), not MDPV. They aren't even the same compound, so the article referenced here has nothing to do with the claims the writer is making. Yes, they both fall under the slang/marketing terms "bath salts", but a person writing an article about the subject should take the 5 minutes it would require to get some names and facts straight.

Scientific understanding:

In the study, tests showed rats worked more than 10 times harder to get the Bath Salts vs. the Meth.

No, no, no, no, no the study does not show this, at all. The study shows that the minimum dose required to induce a repetition of behavior was 10 times higher for meth, or in other words, it takes 1/10 as much MDPV as it does meth to cause the rats to keep self-dosing.

but MDPV (0.01–0.50 mg/kg/inf) showed greater potency and efficacy than METH (0.1–0.25 mg/kg/inf)

Definitely something worth talking about, but definitely NOT the same thing that the science-illiterate article writer claimed.

It makes me sick to think that garbage like this is what passes for news about science. Nobody (including me) outside of a very specialized field is going to read the paper, especially since it isn't free, but the abstract is free! But you know almost nobody is going to bother reading it and just get trash like this article as their info source. I think THAT, more than any other reason, is why we have the drug policy that we do.

 

[Folley]

Well, thank God these drugs aren't mimicking the stimulant LSD and the hallucinogenic methamphetamine

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

*Taps shoulder of editor*

What in the blazes do you think you're doing?!!!!

 

[nuke]

but MDPV (0.01–0.50 mg/kg/inf) showed greater potency and efficacy than METH (0.1–0.25 mg/kg/inf)

That doesn't surprise me, as when I originally trialed MDPV back in 2004 I noted it was about 2-4 times as potent as methamphetamine. Other than that it was a pretty typical, methylphenidate-like stimulant that didn't feel nearly as dangerous as methamphetamine to me.