Bath Salts Abuse Increasing

Attached a link to an interesting article http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/us/17salts.html entitled "An Alarming New Stimulant, Legal in Many States" highlighting the growing abuse of bath salts containing  chemicals like mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV, also known as substituted cathinones. Both drugs are related to khat, an organic stimulant found in Arab and East African countries that is illegal in the United States. Bath salt users so agitated that they often do  not respond to large doses of sedatives.Poison control centers around the country received 3,470 calls about bath salts from January through June, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, up from 303 in all of 2010. 
At least 28 states have banned bath salts, which are typically sold for $25 to $50 per 50-milligram packet at convenience stores and head shops under names like Aura, Ivory Wave, Loco-Motion and Vanilla Sky. Most of the bans are in the South and the Midwest, where the drugs have grown quickly in popularity. But states like Maine, New Jersey and New York have also outlawed them after seeing evidence that their use was spreading. Law enforcement officials said they had been shocked by how quickly bath salts turned into a major problem. As addiction professionals we need to stay informed on how to diagnose and treat patients who are under the influence of these powerful synthetic drugs. We also should call for tough regulatory measures including, whether to make MDPV and mephedrone controlled Schedule I drugs like heroin and ecstasy, to stop the sale and consumption of these drugs.
Yours
Bernd