Tag Archives: cathinones

Woman Gives Birth, Smokes Bath Salts, Violence Ensues; What is Really Going on Here?

7 Jul

Picture from clevelandleader.com

What would possess a woman who had just given birth to smoke bath salts? I suppose I should ask Carla Murphy, who did just that, then stripped off her clothes, tried to bite a cop, and assaulted a nurse before being handcuffed and arrested. An injection of the anti-psychotic Haldol had no effect on the intoxicated new mom. What is going on here?

The “designer drug” is made of synthetic cathinones such as mephedrone (popular in the UK) and methylenedioxypyrovalerone or MDPV, (more popular in the U.S.), and produces a stimulant effect, similar to amphetamine and cocaine. Alarmingly, news reports are claiming it causes psychosis and violent behavior, including cannibalism or expressing the desire to bite and eat humans.

MDPV was first created in 1969 but was not sold until 2004, and mephedrone was first synthesized in 1929 but was not available for purchase until about 2007. I’m curious to know if, besides the never ending need to find legal mind-altering substances, there is a reason  that these drugs emerged for sale at these times.

From product to product, the chemical compositions can vary widely, and products with the same name can contain different compounds. “Designer drugs” are created using substances that have yet to be made illegal. Because they are so new, little is known about the drugs and their long-term effects, making them more dangerous . As soon as one “designer drug” is outlawed, another compound emerges to take its place, perpetuating a vicious cycle of dangerous substances seeping into society. I wonder if there may be a smaller market for such risky legal highs if drugs were decriminalized, or even legalized.

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