Author: Gary Jackson

Mind Matters: The Body’s Response to K2 Spice and Bath Salts National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA

You can chew the leaves of the khat plant to get a mild stimulant effect. The human-made version of cathinone in bath salts is stronger and more dangerous. When it comes to recovering from bath salts addiction, the person can recover completely if it is started on time. However, the problem is not in recovering physically and being healthy again.

When the drugs wear off, a crash may occur, and individuals may sleep for long periods of time. Appetites are also affected by bath salt abuse, and those battling addiction may have a significant drop in weight and appear anorexic or sickly. Nosebleeds, an irregular heart rate, paranoia, increased sex drive, distortions of reality, dehydration, tremors, and kidney failure may be other physical signs of regular use or addiction to bath salts, NIDA reports. Synthetic cathinones, like many other psychoactive drugs, interfere with the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine and its absorption back into the brain, thus increasing their addiction potential, Science News reports. Dopamine is one of the chemical messengers in the brain that tells a person when to feel happy as the result of pleasurable stimuli.

Bath Salts Drug

If one uses a mixture that is not banned by law, one will not break the law. Therefore, even though there are many illegal bath salts, new types which are not banned yet are constantly being made. Even if the components have not yet been banned, this does not mean that this substance can be bought or consumed. The initial stage of treatment manages the drug’s immediate side effects, including temperature regulation and aggression.

But bath salts continue to be sold on the Internet and in retail stores, camouflaged under names such as stain remover, research chemicals, plant food, and insect repellent. “The ban might make people who thought bath salts were legal stay away, but it isn’t going to stop people who really want access to them,” says Nelson. The most worrisome effects are the extreme neurological and psychiatric changes—paranoia, terrifying hallucinations, psychosis, self-destructive and violent behavior—that occur in users of bath salts.

Latest from NIDA

Cravings for bath salts may also be strongly reinforced when an individual develops physical dependence through a mechanism known as negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior results in the removal of an unpleasant stimulus or situation. Animal studies using rodents have found that the animals will self-administer synthetic cathinones similarly to how rodents compulsively self-administer cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin.

  • They may be severe, and it may be challenging to manage them at home.
  • Cravings for bath salts may also be strongly reinforced when an individual develops physical dependence through a mechanism known as negative reinforcement.
  • Individuals need to become involved in long-term treatment programs that include therapy and social support.
  • If you use bath salts for a long time, you can become suspicious (paranoid) of others.
  • Synthetic cathinones overdose can amount to the presentation of uncontrollable spasms.