Pubdate: Wed, 29 Aug 2012
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Darrell Bellaart

NEW DESIGNER DRUG ON OUR STREETS WORRIES NANAIMO POLICE

RCMP urge parents to talk to kids about the harms of using 'bath 
salts', which is gaining more attention

The appearance of a dangerous designer drug known as "bath salts" on 
Vancouver Island streets has police and drug education officials 
worried the week before school resumes.

A Duncan RCMP officer uncovered a significant quantity of the drug 
methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV, during a routine check of a 
vehicle parked on the Trans-Canada Highway early Sunday morning.

The drug, known under a variety of street names, including "ivory 
wave," "purple wave," and "vanilla sky," was created by chemists 
looking for a legal way to manufacture drugs similar to the illegal 
stimulant methamphetamine.

It is associated with bizarre behaviours, including an act of 
cannibalism in Miami in May, although media reports later questioned 
whether the man who attacked a homeless person was on the drug.

Nanaimo RCMP are concerned to find 400 grams MDPV among sizable 
quantities of cocaine, GHB, hashish, LSD, marijuana and MDMA 
(ecstasy) in a vehicle parked at Kipp Road.

It is "one of the first instances" of such a find in B.C., said Sgt 
Duncan Pound, a federal RCMP spokesman.

In Nanaimo, Const. Sherri Wade said police "want parents to talk to 
their kids about bath salts, and drugs in general.

"You never know how anyone is going to respond to any drug and you 
never know what's in it."

Don Monsour, Crystal Clear Drug Prevention Society president, said 
parents need to be aware of it when school resumes. "This is brand 
new and we're not on top of it," Monsour said.

"We're going to do a lot more work and incorporate it into our classes."

The Victoria-based organization, originally formed to target 
methamphetamine use, now does classroom presentations around the 
Island, including Nanaimo, to educate youth about the risks of all 
street drugs.

The drug is so new it's not included in the schedule of regulated 
drugs in Canada.

News reports fed hysteria over the drug in May, when a Miami man bit 
the face of a homeless person beside a busy roadway before police 
shot and killed him. It was later revealed the attacker had not taken MDPV.

But in June, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced 
government would quickly move to classify the main ingredient in MDPV 
alongside other dangerous drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine.

The drug's effects include agitation and increased heart rate and 
blood pressure. Higher doses can create paranoia, hallucinations and 
aggression.

It gets its street name from the fact it is sometimes legally sold as 
bath salts. Used as a drug, MDPV "is known for its tendency to cause 
compulsive redosing and some users report sexual arousal as an 
effect," according to the drug information website Vault of Erowid.

Most users report negative experiences using the drug, on the 
non-profit organization's wiki-style website.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom