THE
LORDS of the bath have a message for all young sailors - lay off the salts!
A
spate of violent psychosis-induced attacks in the United States has their navy
so concerned it has commissioned a video as part of a campaign to prevent its
sailors from turning into sea monsters. Designer drugs known as "bath
salts" or "spice" are designed to mimic the effects of cocaine
and methamphetamine. The fad is rapidly becoming a nightmare for the military,
with 90 sailors from two San Diego ships drummed out of the service in one
incident last year.
The
drug, which can be snorted, swallowed, smoked or injected, is often promoted by
pushers as safe and legal. "I cannot emphasise enough to our Sailors and
Marines that using synthetic drugs really is just like playing Russian roulette
with their health, not to mention their career," Vice Admiral Matthew L.
Nathan, a US Navy surgeon general, said.
The
video shows a sailor snorting "bath salts", vomiting - and then
suffering demonic hallucinations.
He
goes on to attack his girlfriend, pass out, have seizures and arrive in a
hospital emergency room.
Psychiatry physician Lieutenant George Loeffler told ABC News that
"bath salt" users risk side-effects lasting several weeks after ingesting
the drug. "When people are using bath salts, they're not their normal
selves", he said. "They're angrier. They're erratic. They're violent
and they're unpredictable. People will start seeing things that aren't there,
believing things that aren't true. "We don't have really good treatments
for this ... (users) in effect make themselves schizophrenic."
Source: news.com.au
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