Bath salts, also known as "zombie drug" for its horrible effects.
Bath salts: the zombie drug spreads in the West and with it is terrible effects among its consumers.
The year 2012, Rudy Eugene, naked 31-year-old was shot dead by cops in the streets of Miami, attacking a vagabond and snatching 75% of his face, a drug caught the attention of the American media due to the terrible nature of the crime .
The news brought to light a hallucinogen known as "bath salts" and happened to be called zombie drug. Although it is often described as the "new LSD" bath salts, in fact, have much in common with the hallucinogenic which became popular from the 60s. Both drugs are synthetic drugs but the similarities do not refer to the main effects of the drug.
The active component of the zombie drug
Though the primary effect of LSD is creating hallucinations and visual distortions in the perception of space and time, depending on the dose used. Bath salts are, in fact, an amphetamine-like chemical, containing Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), mephedrone and pyrovalerone. This change in composition, of course, makes its place in the human nervous system produces different consequences because the impact it has on the way in which our neurons capture and emit neurotransmitters are different, as is the case when providing psychiatric legal drugs.
The effects of bath salts
Bath salts can be smoked, snorted or injected. Hallucinations can be a side effect but the main effects are similar to those of other stimulants such as cocaine, methamphetamine or crystal. The main psychoactive effects include increased alertness, euphoria, agitation, high blood pressure and increased heart rate.
Consumers agree in describing a huge force, pain inhibition and an internal heat that causes extreme disarray. But those are only the least harmful effects because often severe effects have been reported such as aggression, paranoia, psychosis, depression, suicidal thoughts and even death. Hence, several people have made this substance in something known as "zombie drug" consumption makes lose sight of a stable view of reality and confusion coupled with induced aggression from the effects of the substance in areas of the limbic system can lead to committing brutal attacks.
Although this substance is known as bath salts, it has nothing in common with those used by people to relax in the tub. In the drug market, bath salts are also known under other names such as red dove, purple, lunar wave, pure ivory, zombie drug, ivory wave, vanilla sky, blessing or white lightning.
A drug that extends because of several factors
Zombie drug is relatively cheap and can be found on the market for $20 (15 euros). Bath salts were linked to an alarming increase in the number of visits to emergency rooms across the United States.
Patients with the syndrome known as excited delirium after consumption of bath salts can also suffer from dehydration, deterioration of muscle tissue and kidney failure. But most alarming is the extreme aggressiveness presenting consumers which have been compared to cannibalistic acts because of their brutality.
Early results indicate that this synthetic substance has a high potential for abuse and addiction. Users who took bath salts have reported that the drug triggers intense cravings (or a compulsive need for the drug again) and is highly addictive. Frequent consumption can result in tolerance, dependence, and severe symptoms of withdrawal if they stop taking the drug like suddenly turning into a zombie.