Pubdate: Wed, 26 Sep 2012
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Karissa Donkin

MAIN INGREDIENT BATH SALTS NOW ILLEGAL

The main ingredient in bath salts, a mind-altering, synthetic drug, is
now illegal.

MDPV has been added to Schedule I of the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act, putting it the same category as heroin and cocaine,
federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Wednesday in Ottawa.

"This means it's illegal to produce, sell, import or possess MDPV
unless it is authorized by regulations, which will make it harder for
people to deal, or manufacture, these so-called 'bath salts,'"
Aglukkaq said.

"It also means border officials and police officers who find these
products now have the authority to act."

While "little is known about the specific health affects associated
with the use of MDPV," Health Canada spokesman Stephane Shank said, it
has been "associated with severe panic attacks and anxiety, as well as
hallucinations and psychosis."

In June, the Canadian government announced it planned to make MDPV
illegal days after the drug was implicated in a grisly face-eating
attack in Miami. Lab tests later showed only marijuana in the system
of the attacker, who was shot and killed when police found him chewing
on another man's face.

"We owe it to our children and communities to get this serious drug
off our streets and I'm proud our government was able to honour the
commitment it made in June to address this issue," Aglukkaq said.

A Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse alert issued in June lists New
Glasgow, N.S. as the only municipality where concern about the drug is
at a high level.

Staff Insp. Randy Franks of Toronto police, who serves as acting chair
of the drug abuse committee with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of
Police, said Wednesday's announcement will give officers authority to
seize the drug and lay charges.

"We're very pleased with the speed Health Canada managed to correct
this problem and make MDPV scheduled under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act so that it's now illegal and police can actually deal
with it more effectively," he said.

Though police did seize bath salts in June as part of a larger drug
seizure, Franks said the drug hasn't really surfaced in Toronto yet.

New Glasgow Regional Police Service spokesman Cst. Ken MacDonald said
his community has seen "the dangerous side effects of this particular
drug" but previously had limited powers to deal with it.

"This announcement is going to increase our capacity to deal with this
illicit drug."
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MAP posted-by: Matt