Pubdate: Fri, 28 Sep 2012
Source: Sun Times, The (Owen Sound, CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/NtnHgLCY
Website: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1544
Author: Denis Langlois

COPS APPLAUD CRIMINALIZING 'BATH SALTS'

Health Canada has now made illegal the key ingredient in the drug
known as bath salts, which took Owen Sound police by surprise earlier
this year after five people were hospitalized within a 24-hour period
after injecting or smoking it.

It's a move the city's police department is applauding.

"It's positive news for us for sure. If that substance shows up again,
then we'll be able to take action," Owen Sound Police Services
Det-Sgt. Mark Kielb said Thursday in an interview.

The drug has been found by city police only once since back-to-back
raids in January, he said. A small amount was seized in May.

"I believe it's out of the community. I believe it was a one-time
thing," he said.

Kielb said he saw firsthand what the drug, which he called "very
dangerous," can do to people.

"It was obvious that they were hallucinating and very paranoid," he
said.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced this week that the drug
commonly found in bath salts, known as methylenedioxypyrovalerone
(MDPV), is now listed in the same category as heroin and cocaine in
the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.

That means police can now lay possession, trafficking and other
charges after they seize MDPV.

"This action gives law enforcement the authority to investigate
suspected illegal activities involving MDPV, which will help keep our
communities safe from this new and emerging drug," Health Canada said
in a statement.

Bath salts containing MDPV were found in two police raids in the city
in January.

Owen Sound Police Chief Bill Sornberger has said the city is believed
to have been one of the first communities in Canada to experience the
effects of bath salts.

So named because they resemble and are often transported and
trafficked as the scented bath additive of the same name, bath salts
made international headlines this year after police officers in Miami
speculated that a grisly cannibalistic attack on a homeless man
happened after the attacker took MDPV. The drug was not found in the
attacker's system.

The drug had been linked to suicide and deaths in the United States
and Europe before it was found in Owen Sound.

Five men were seen at the city's emergency department with similar
symptoms of extreme paranoia, vivid hallucinations and thoughts of
suicide.

Police said the substance caused people to believe they are on fire or
about to be struck by lightning. Others feared someone was chasing
them.

Police found 14 grams of bath salts during a raid Jan. 18. Another 142
grams of powder, also suspected to be the hallucinogenic drug, were
seized Jan. 23.

Samples were sent to Health Canada for analysis. Sornberger said MDPV
was found in the bath salts.

Other drugs and prohibited weapons were found in the raids, allowing
police to lay charges. However, no charges related to possession of
MDPV could be laid.

Kielb said if the drug had been illegal in January, police could have
laid trafficking charges.
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