LESTER HOLT, anchor:
The federal government raised new alarm this week about so-called
bath salts
. Not the kind you use when soaking in a tub, but powerful and dangerous synthetic drugs that can lead to death. Yesterday the
Drug Enforcement Agency
banned the drugs.
NBC
's
Mara Schiavocampo
has more tonight.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO reporting:
A late night visit from
Granite City
,
Illinois
, police brought a nightmare home for
Nancy Hodge
and her daughter
Amanda
.
AMANDA:
They asked me if I could come down to
Gateway Regional Hospital
to see if it was my brother, to identify him.
SCHIAVOCAMPO:
Twenty-six
-year-old
Jeffrey
was in a coma, hospitalized after being found combative and psychotic on a neighborhood street. He would die three days later, devastating his family. The cause
bath salts
, a methamphetamine derivative that was widely available to anyone, including children. But don't let the name fool you. These aren't actually
bath salts
, but a powerful
designer drug
that can cause hallucinations, psychotic breaks and suicide.
Mr. GARY BOGGS (Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent):
Young adults are not really fully aware of the dangers when they take these drugs and what the potential side effects, both short-term and long-term, are.
SCHIAVOCAMPO:
And the effect of the drug on users may not end with one night's high.
Dr. MARK RYAN (Louisiana Poison Center):
Some of them were sent to psychiatric facilities and some of them were sent to long-term care because their symptoms either had not resolved or weren't resolving. So we don't know if some of the effects from some of these substances may be permanent.
SCHIAVOCAMPO:
In
2010
, there were 303 calls to poison control centers nationwide about
bath salts
. In just the first half of this year, there were more than 12 times that number of calls.
Dr. RYAN:
These drugs, because they are so new and they've never been tested, and large numbers of people haven't taken them, it's truly a
Russian roulette
.
SCHIAVOCAMPO:
So this week the
DEA
took emergency action, making the sale and possession of
bath salts
illegal to prevent an imminent threat to the public safety.
AMANDA:
I love that picture of him.
SCHIAVOCAMPO:
That's little comfort for a grieving family who lost a young brother, son and father of two far too soon.
Ms. NANCY HODGE:
The kids just don't understand about it. You know, it's bad.
SCHIAVOCAMPO:
Mara Schiavocampo, NBC News, New York.
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