Are Pretty Bath Salts the New Meth?

Post by Julie Ryan EvansWant to trip out or get high, but can't seem to locate a dealer? Fear not, a magical mystery trip is as close as your bathroom, and we're not even talking about the stuff in your medicine cabinet. Turns out bath salts can send you soaring on a high much like the one you get when taking methamphetamine.
Besides all the "fun," they can also cause suicidal behavior, hallucinations, and paranoia. In sum, they're really dangerous.
Great, besides the fact that these recent reports are likely to ruin my bath as they make the price of bath salts soar and their availability scarce, it gives people who want to get high a whole new way to do so. Seriously, who would just think up getting high off of bath salts on their own?But don't throw out the bathwater just yet. You won't get high just from a soothing soak in the tub; you have to snort, inject, or smoke the salts to feel the effects. So at least there's that, but still. More and more everyday household items and legal substances are being highlighted for their drug-like virtues with the right usage, and you have to wonder how many people are trying them because they're right there when they hear about them.
Remember Miley Cyrus and the big to-do over her smoking Salvia from a bong? The herb is legal in many states, and I'm guessing if I had a dollar for every teenager who went out and tried it after hearing about it, I'd be rich ... or least able to buy a really nice pair of shoes.
From nutmeg to parsley, there are plenty of ways to get high if someone wants to badly enough, and it's not like we can hide these facts from anyone who wants to find them badly enough. I seem to remember a little incident in high school in which some friends drank enough peppermint extract to get really sick because we heard it could get you drunk.
So I guess instead we should be grateful that we're learning of all these secret substances as they could be helpful in spotting a problem in a friend or loved one. Keep a watch on those bath salts.
Are you surprised to learn of this other use for bath salts?

Image via Theme Park Mom/FlickrBenita Villafane Tameka Eckles Avis Sanderfur Guy Arrellano Kurt Hesson