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A Scary Drug
Products - 'Bath Salts'
Citation:   Michael G. "A Scary Drug: An Experience with Products - 'Bath Salts' (exp91391)". Erowid.org. Jun 12, 2011. erowid.org/exp/91391

 
DOSE:
  insufflated Products - Bath Salts, Plant Food, etc (powder / crystals)
    smoked Products - Bath Salts, Plant Food, etc  
BODY WEIGHT: 160 lb
[Erowid Note: Cannabis substitute "spice" type smoking blends, "Bath salts", "plant food", "incense", "tea" and similar products generally do not accurately list psychoactive ingredients or dosage on their packaging. Analysis has revealed that ingredients in a single product of this type may vary over time. The component chemical(s) may be different than what is assumed for this report.]

First off, the only reason I'm writing this report is because I see very little information on the effects of Bath Salts. This is my personal experience with this mysterious drug.

I initially saw the substance on Dr. Drew. HE said that the drug has the effects of methamphetamine and cocaine combined. The person featured on the show had been abusing the substance and had paranoia that lasted months after he stopped use. I assumed this was bullshit television, although even if it wasn't, I didn't think trying it a couple times would do me much harm.

I live in California, where Bath Salts are slowly gaining popularity by word of mouth rather than actual experience. The local smoke shop didn't have any, but I was lucky enough to know the owner who had bought some for himself online. Unfortunately, by the time I got hold of it there was only about half of the $80 .5 gram left, so I don't know my exact dose. The two people who used the drug before me had felt intense effects, one of which had to go to the hospital for a fast and irregular heartbeat, in addition to slight paranoia. What scared me was that only half the container was gone and they felt extreme effects, which shows how dangerous this substance is if used excessively.

Despite these warnings, I decided I'd experiment with the drug myself. My first time was at 8:00 PM. I snorted a very, very skinny line about the length of my pinky finger, using up less than 1/4 of the powder that was originally in the container. If I was to do a line this size of say, MDMA or cocaine, I probably would have felt little, if any effects at all. MDPV surprised me though, within minutes I began to feel slightly lightheaded and concentrated (similar to cocaine) and my heart rate began to increase. I listened to music for the first half hour of the experience, which really amplified the euphoric effect in my opinion and made me feel a strong urge to dance. Unfortunately, any significant feelings of euphoria faded rather quickly and were completely gone after the first hour.

At this point, I think almost anyone would decide to do another line. This is where Bath Salts become dangerous, luckily the two people who used before me had warned that the euphoric effects aren't attainable with more use and would only turn to paranoia and heart complications if I continued. I agreed and stopped my use for the night, but the effects from the VERY small line I had taken continued. From 9PM to 5AM, i felt fidgety and restless. There was no euphoria, although music continued to sound a bit better than usual in the earlier hours of the experience. I felt the urge to always be moving and doing something, but I couldn't concentrate on any single thing for more than a couple of minutes.

Finally, at around 5AM, my body began to feel tired and ready to sleep even though my mind was still very awake. I sat in bed for a while with my eyes wide open and somehow drifted off into sleep. I woke up around 10AM and my mind still felt very awake. The first thing I thought about when I woke up was the bath salts, I felt excited to use the remainder of it. There was only about 1/4 of the container left, slightly more than what I had used the previous night. I decided it'd be a good idea to smoke it in hopes of making it last longer and work better.

I started by mixing a very small drop of water with the Bath Salts in a spoon. There wasn't enough bath salt to absorb all the water, so I added a small amount of baking soda. It still wouldn't dry, so I heated the bottom of the spoon. The contents quickly began to boil and I mixed it until it was completely dry. I'm no scientist, I have no idea if this made the MDPV free base, but it definitely had a stronger effect.

At around 1 PM I put all of the bath salt into a pipe I usually use for weed and began smoking it. It didn't produce much smoke and tasted like perfume. It also left a slight numbing sensation on the front of my lips where they touched the pipe. The effects were much more intense than snorting the drug. After ONE hit, I almost immediately felt light headed and euphoric. I had a strong desire to continue smoking and after 2 for 3 more hits, I felt confidence like nothing I'd ever felt before. I was extremely relaxed, euphoric, and concentrated. I felt empathetic toward everyone around me, I was invincible and in control. I felt much more sensitive to light and sounds. It may have been possible to sustain these feelings for hours, but I made the mistake to continue smoking, I couldn't control myself. I took about 6 more hits within the next ten minutes, although these hits were smaller as the salts began to harden into a black ball that took longer to light. I'm sure I could have taken up to 10 more hits before the salts went out, which now scares me, but I refrained from taking any more as strange sensations began to overwhelm the euphoria I had previously felt.

Within only about 20 minutes of my first hit, the euphoria quickly switched to a feeling of paranoia as my heartbeat continued to increase to the point that it was all I could concentrate on. I felt like my heart was about to explode and it only got FASTER as time went on. My concentration that I was in so much control of before had been lost, I tried concentrating on the television in front of me and the sounds and people around me, but I couldn't, all I could think about was my heartbeat, I thought I would surely die. I threw the rest of the bath salts away and felt skittish for the rest of the day. It took about 4 hours for me to feel any sort of relief from the paranoia, but my heart continued to beat irregularly fast even throughout the following day.

I don't plan on doing Bath Salts again. If you decide to try this stuff, know that you're taking a risk and be prepared for the possibility of a panic attack, even in small doses.

Exp Year: 2011ExpID: 91391
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 18
Published: Jun 12, 2011Views: 62,683
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Products - Bath Salts, Plant Food, etc (521) : Small Group (2-9) (17), General (1)

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