THE BERLIN DAILY SUN, Tuesday, August 16, 2011— Page 15
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difficult for law enforcement to determine whether they are dealing with drug users or mentally ill persons, he said. While police have had admissions of use of this new drug, it’s effects have yet to be seen by the local hospital. “It’s something that we’ve been made aware of and have heard about but the ED (emergency department) has not seen any cases,” said Jim Wheeler, Vice President of Human Resources and Community Development at Androscoggin Valley Hospital. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction published a study earlier this year on the risk assessment of mephedrone. In the study the EMCDD notes that there are no known uses of mephedrone as a research, industrial, agricultural or cosmetic compound, thereby questioning any legitimate inclusion of the chemical in any product marketed as plant food or bath salts. The negative effects uncovered in the study included, feelings of restlessness, agitation, aggression, and panic; paranoid delusions; and increased hart rate and/or blood pressure among other possible side-effects. A Drug Enforcement Administration fact sheet on MDPV also lists increased body temperature, psychosis and addiction as side effects for that drug in addition to those already listed, which it has in common with mephedrone. In the US the drugs are marketed under many names, including Ivory Wave, Vanilla Sky, and other monikers. It is important to note, that unlike the huffing phenomenon where regular household items are used to get high, the plant food and bath salts commonly used in household applications are not the substances that contain this engineered amphetamine. The compounds that contain the drug are primarily sold on the internet or in head shops and shipped in unmarked boxes. While recent press has focused on the surge of this drug in Bangor, Me., where it has recently become illegal, N.H. State Police Sgt. Richard Farrell the operations officer of the Attorney
General’s Drug Task Force, said that all four task force teams — Metro, West, Seacoast and North — have seen issues with bath salts. “The people using this have no idea how dangerous it is,” he said. Peredy said that the drug truly is new to the US. Nationally, in 2010 there were 300 calls to poison control centers regarding ill effects of these drugs. In the first six months of 2011 that number jumped to 3,678 nationwide — an increase of more than 10 fold. At the Northern New England Poison Center, based at Maine Medical Center and serving Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, said the center went from almost no calls last year to a steady increase increase, he said, starting with one or two calls in January, and rising to nine or 10 by April, 27 in May and 45 in June. month in 2011. Peredy said that the NH calls have leveled out at around a hand full a month, with those calls caming mainly from four Granite State counties — the three southernmost (Strafford, Hillsborough, and Cheshire) and Coos in the north. He said the symptoms that are most commonly reported are heart rates of more than 150, blood pressures in excess of 175, persistent hallucinations for two to three days after ingesting the drug, self-injuries and injuries to bystanders as a result of the mind altering effects, extreme paranoia, seizures and “bizarre behavior.” Peredy said he can see where law enforcement would run into challenges with these drug users, and encourages the law enforcement community to call the Northern New England Poison Center or bring subjects to the emergency room if they believe they may be under the influence of these drugs. Users of mephedrone or MDVP are typically young, risk takers, Peredy said. Farrell said that the mephedrone and MDVP are readily available to these younger people online. “It’s there all over the place,” he said. But just because there isn’t a law against it, doesn’t mean taking it is a good idea. “It’s flat out toxic,” Farrell said.