« Driver in Amtrak crash was talking on phone and speeding, police say

Mushrooms, music, nature walks and more at HVNC open house »

Bath salts drug use spreading throughout Maine, officials say

By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff

Posted Sept. 26, 2011, at 12:46 p.m.
Last modified Sept. 26, 2011, at 7:09 p.m.

Courtesy photo

Bath salts

Eric Zelz | BDN

Bath salts overdoses reported to the Northern New England Poison Center by county

Unspecified

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 2
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 0

Androscoggin

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 2
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 3
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 2

Aroostook

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 2
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 1
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 3

Cumberland

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 6
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 1

Hancock

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 4
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 2

Kennebec

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 15
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 3

Knox

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 9
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 11

Lincoln

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 1
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 0
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 1

Oxford

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 3
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 1

Penobscot

2010: 1
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 4
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 12
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 22

Piscataquis

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 1
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 1

Somerset

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 3
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 0

Washington

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 0
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 2

York

2010: 0
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 0
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 1
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 2

State totals

2010: 1
Jan. 2011-March 2011: 9
Apr. 2011-June 2011: 60
July 2011-Sept. 2011: 51
Total: 121

Source: Northern New England Poison Center

A delusional man broke into a Waterville school while class was under way and screamed that someone armed with a gun was after him, trying to kill him.

A woman in Knox County tried to cut her teeth out with a knife because she thought they were embedded with ticks.

A Clinton woman took off her clothes, ran around, climbed into a drainage pipe and refused to come out.

People in the Howland area have reported seeing little green men or aliens and an Ellsworth-area woman thought she was a grizzly bear when police encountered her.

Those are just a few of the recent accounts of Mainers acting strangely while under the influence of the synthetic drug bath salts, which may have an innocent-sounding name but is a very dangerous — often psychosis-inducing — substance, according to police and medical professionals.

Bath salts first emerged earlier this year on the streets of Bangor, where it is called “monkey dust” and remains a daily problem. But it quickly has spread throughout the state. No county has escaped its reach.

“It’s just bad, bad, bad, and It’s everywhere,” Knox County Sheriff Donna Dennison said Friday. “It’s not just in Bangor or Portland. It’s everywhere, so everybody is concerned.”

Law enforcement and medical personnel in communities that have yet to see the drug arrive in full force — Houlton, Portland, Biddeford, Dover-Foxcroft and others — all say it’s just a matter of time before it worsens.

“Bath salts is quickly becoming an epidemic for law enforcement and something we are all starting to deal with,” Brunswick police Lt. Michael L. Moody said recently.

The drug can be snorted, smoked, injected or swallowed and is cheap, addictive and causes users to act unpredictably, Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastia said last week.

Bangor police respond to one to three calls a day involving the stimulant, which looks like cocaine but usually contains mephedrone or methylenedioxypyrovalerone, known as MDPV, he said. While the Queen City has big numbers, “we are not the drug capital of the world by any means,” Gastia said.

Penobscot County accounts for about 32 percent of the state’s 121 bath salts poisonings — overdoses — reported between January and Sept. 21, but there have been big jumps in Kennebec and Knox counties, according to data from the Northern New England Poison Control Center in Portland.

“It’s exploded down here,” Rockland police Sgt. Don Finnegan said recently.

Since mid-April, police and deputies in Knox County have responded to more than 143 incidents involving bath salts, 91 of them occurring in Rockland, the sergeant said.

“The thing that is common with bath salts users is severe delusion, paranoia — people are out to get them. People are chasing them,” Finnegan said.

Because the drug users truly fear for their lives, they pick up knives, guns and other weapons and are a danger to themselves, the people who love them and the law enforcement and medical personnel dispatched to help, the Rockland sergeant and others say.

“It’s a nightmare,” Finnegan said.

At least two men in Maine, one in Bangor and one in Rockland, attempted to commit suicide by cop while under the influence of bath salts, police in those communities have said.

Bath salts users encountered by law enforcement are typically in crisis, Gastia, Finnegan and Dover-Foxcroft police Officer David Wilson said.

“We don’t get involved until somebody has taken enough to flip out on it,” Wilson said.

“What we’re seeing is the adverse reaction,” Bangor’s police chief said. “That doesn’t mean that is the whole population [of bath salts users].”

“When we get called, it’s because people are on the extreme edge,” the Rockland sergeant said. “We’re just getting the fringe.” He said there are certainly many more users who go undetected.

Bath salts became illegal in Maine at the beginning of July, but those caught with the drug are issued a civil offense and dealers face only a misdemeanor charge.

Maine legislators, led by Gov. Paul LePage, are looking to stiffen bath salts penalties and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Congress are both working to make the main components of the hallucinogenic stimulant illegal.

The drug is banned in 31 states but is sold legally at convenience stores, head shops and online in the remaining unregulated states.

Hospital officials from The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle to Maine Medical Center in Portland have seen agitated patients on bath salts acting erratically, with increased blood pressure, heart rates and body temperatures, hospital officials said.

“We haven’t tracked the number of cases we’ve seen in our emergency departments, but … the general feeling is that we’re seeing fewer cases of patients under the influence of bath salts since the law passed,” Dr. Guy Nuki, emergency room operations chief at MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer Campus in Waterville, said last week.

“We have seen some but not a lot, but we know it’s an emerging issue,” Andy Soucier, spokesman for The Aroostook Medical Center, said of bath salts cases.

Most bath salts users have prior drug problems, Gastia and Dr. Doug Boyink, emergency department director at MaineGeneral’s Augusta Campus, said recently.

“These people also do not advertise their substance use, but have unusual toxic symptoms, and almost always have abused other substances,” Boyink said.

Poison center numbers show only one bath salts overdose in Maine during 2010. The county-by-county breakdown so far for 2011 show Penobscot County with the most bath salts poisonings, at 39, followed by Knox County with 20, or 16.7 percent, and Kennebec County with 18, or 15 percent.

Agents with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency have seen the stimulant surface in areas close to Canada; near the New Hampshire border and in all areas in between.

After the drug took off in Knox County, “it kind of blossomed from there,” Ken Pike, MDEA’s Division I commander, who covers southern Maine, said Thursday. In April, “I started hearing about it in York County, in the southern part of the state, and at the border.”

Darrell Crandall, MDEA Division II commander, who covers from Kennebec and Somerset counties north, said his agents are finding bath salts in the Bangor area with pockets of new users in other areas.

“Aroostook County, particularly central Aroostook County, has recently seen a number of incidents,” he said, adding that Presque Isle is on the list.

The Lewiston MDEA field office supervisor, Matt Cashman, said his undercover agents are just beginning to see users of the drug and are “hearing more … from our street sources about bath salts being out there.”

He described the drug as “a tidal wave sweeping over the state” and said most law enforcement agencies, fire departments, emergency responders and hospitals that deal with despondent people have taken or are planning classes to educate their ranks about how to handle users of the drug.

Ellsworth police Chief John DeLeo and Waterville police Chief Joe Massey both said bath salts users remind them of drug addicts on PCP or LSD back in the 1970s and ’80s who often hallucinated about seeing monsters.

“It’s the bizarre behavior that we’re seeing again,” Massey said. “They don’t register danger and don’t recognize authority and sometimes don’t even acknowledge you.”

He used a Waterville man — recently found standing at the edge of the woods screaming nonsense at nearby trees — as an example of a bath salts user who didn’t even realize police were there.

Sometimes “there is just no talking to these people,” Massey said.

Synthetic bath salts are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration because the drug is not marketed for human consumption, so users take a risk every time they consume the concoction of lab-made drugs.

“One person could take it and have a great time and the next person takes it and has a horror story,” DeLeo said.

The paranoia experienced by users sometimes lasts well beyond when the drug leaves their systems, Wilson said. “The flashbacks can last for days.”

Most law enforcement leaders stressed the need for a field test for bath salts to help officers identify the powder, which often is white but can also be yellow to brown. Investigators now have to send suspected bath salts samples to a lab in Augusta for testing at a cost of around $100, Crandall said.

Pike said he knew bath salts were going to be problem in Maine when the MDEA started getting calls in the spring from people concerned about their loved ones using the drugs.

“People were actually calling for help” before the drug was illegal, he said. “That’s a first. It’s pretty unusual to have someone’s wife, boyfriend or girlfriend asking agents to help them” with an emerging drug.

With all the unpredictable side effects and strange behavior of people all over the state, Crandall said, “it’s pretty hard to believe people are still using it.

“It doesn’t seem to make sense,” he said.

Those with questions about bath salts can contact their local law enforcement agency, the state’s Office of Substance Abuse at maine.gov/dhhs/osa or the poison center at 800-222-1222.

Similar articles:

Anonymous

Slowly destroying our city, raise the penalty on possession already!
Anonymous

Slowly destroying our city raise the penalty for possession already!
Anonymous

Amazing how so many people, that probably have heard the horror stories, still feel compelled to try this horrid horrid concoction. I just don’t know what society is thinking. It’s too bad so many people are trying to escape life. But the sad part is, putting yourselves in harm’s way is one thing but you literally are terrorizing society.
Anonymous

The reason is we only hear about the bad trips. The ones that use it, and are fine, way out number the ones we hear about. That’s why people are still trying it.
Anonymous

Carry a gun, protect yourself and family and let these idiots weed themselves out. Who cares. With that said, hey, be careful out there!
http://twitter.com/joncob Jon Coburn

Jesus Christ
http://twitter.com/WmRockwood William E. Rockwood

Bath salts are like many other things: a benefit when they’re used properly and a problem when they’re misused. Many of Maine’s most famous people have spoken publicly in favor of recreational bath salt use: Margaret Chase Smith once charged the senate podium after smoking monkey dust, insisting that she was Boudicea and frightening Sen. McCarthy into yielding the floor. Joshua Chamberlain wrote a letter home telling his wife that bath salts were the key to courage on the battlefield. Without bath salts, George Mitchell could not have brokered the Good Friday agreement– Gerry Adams only agreed to advise Sinn Fein to abide after he and Mitchell shared a baggie of MDPV (which Mitchell had flown to Belfast, hidden in his bottle of Pert Plus.)

I do not use bath salts or any other illegal or recreational drug, but I can see that the irresponsible people giving MDVP a bad reputation are only part of the story. It would be nice to see reporting which acknowledges bath salts’ contributions to Maine’s culture.
Anonymous

We all need to show our disgust for this, perhaps each of us can make a difference. Smack ‘em up against th’ noggin’!
Anonymous

so bdn is censoring?
Anonymous

so how is acting like idiots beneficial in any way?
Anonymous

And Amen
waynorth1

Well, hopefully I will regain my comfort level now that the days are getting shorter to walk my dog in with or without daylight without fear of some freak coming at me. Judging from some of the low lifes that have infiltrated PI, time for another can of pepper spray or something “bigger” and still legal.
Anonymous

Anyone who would try this stuff already has dain bramage.
Anonymous

Anyone who would try this stuff already has dain bramage.
Anonymous

How would you know that??
Anonymous

How would you know that??
Anonymous

“Penobscot County accounts for about 32 percent of the state’s 121 bath salts
poisonings — overdoses — reported between January and Sept. 21″…… So wait a minute – for all the hype, and all the screamings from law enforcement about what a plague and outright epidemic this is, we’ve actually only had 39 cases in all of Penobscot county over the past 8 months! That sort of flies in the face of the other comment in the story which says that “Bangor police respond to one to three calls a day”, and last I checked Bangor is in Penobscot county. Hell, there must be at least twice as much alcohol related incidents (in Bangor alone) and plenty of potentially deadly drunk driving to go with. Shouldn’t that be the real concern?
Anonymous

“Penobscot County accounts for about 32 percent of the state’s 121 bath salts
poisonings — overdoses — reported between January and Sept. 21″…… So wait a minute – for all the hype, and all the screamings from law enforcement about what a plague and outright epidemic this is, we’ve actually only had 39 cases in all of Penobscot county over the past 8 months! That sort of flies in the face of the other comment in the story which says that “Bangor police respond to one to three calls a day”, and last I checked Bangor is in Penobscot county. Hell, there must be at least twice as much alcohol related incidents (in Bangor alone) and plenty of potentially deadly drunk driving to go with. Shouldn’t that be the real concern?
Kevin_Of_Bangor

From the article:

A Clinton woman took off her clothes, ran around, climbed into a drainage pipe and refused to come out.

I’m sorry but that really made me laugh out loud. I’m still laughing as I type this.
Anonymous

The level of brain power drops lower every day!!If people’s mentality is this low, that they will try this stuff, knowing what it might do to them, then let them go for it!!—My God, what a waste.– wonder where the money comes from to purchase this crap??? There will probably be clinics before long , to get your free “salts”!–I’ve been around a while, and this is the worst and most ignorant yet!
Anonymous

The level of brain power drops lower every day!!If people’s mentality is this low, that they will try this stuff, knowing what it might do to them, then let them go for it!!—My God, what a waste.– wonder where the money comes from to purchase this crap??? There will probably be clinics before long , to get your free “salts”!–I’ve been around a while, and this is the worst and most ignorant yet!
Anonymous

My thoughts exactly!
Anonymous

My thoughts exactly!
Anonymous

The really scary part of this is that these people are driving, and walking the streets. Those of us who are innocent can become a part of their hallucination and not even be aware that we are in danger. It is terrifying.
Anonymous

Great stories you made up, but MDVP was not synthesized untill 1969 . Didn’t appear till 2005.
Anonymous

Boring reporting on Bath Salts is on the rise by the BDN. Help!!!!!
Anonymous

Mr. Rockwood, How on earth could something like this be a benefit?? And where did you get the information that you posted on here?? I think I choose to not believe any of what you have written cause it just doesn’t sound believable. This stuff is bad. So is driving under the influence of ANYTHING. But if we don’t stop it now when do we? When people start getting killed? Innocent people?? Just because it has been around for awhile doesn’t make it ok.
Anonymous

Explanation please?
Moose

I wonder how many are on Maine Care and the state is paying for. So if the state insurance private insurance stop paying for people on bath salt and lets see what happens then..
Anonymous

Mileage to and from the methadone clinic pays quite well these days. I heard of 3 idiots from downeast maine… sullivan, franklin, machias, etc. that carpool to Bangor daily. That trip pays them over$ 300 per week each because they fudge mileage reports to come to Bangor, get their legal heroin, or whatever other BS name you want to call it. It is legal heroin folks. That is wy they never miss a dose and line up like the rats that they are to get it every morning. How pathetic is that. They get their junk, get paid to do it, and then get paid to sit home high all day. We fund it all! Then they compliment their high with some bathsalt that until recently went undetected on drug tests. Scumbags.
Anonymous

Where I lived for a while, 7 days a week, you would not believe the people that got on the bus at the end of the parking lot!!They never missed!! They were heading to a clinic! . And if you saw the ones at the bus stop by Acadia, you simply wouldn’t believe it.–I’ve heard about the mileage thing–That’s smoke and booze money. They come from all over for their free “fix” every day, and then they drive home to who knows how many miles, higher then a kite, with the car full of kids! And all of this is free, for them.—How much more disgusting can human beings become??
Anonymous

Free and Legal and endorsed by our “medical professionals” that started most of them on this garbage. The worst part is that it is so proftable that the scumbags that run it will go to all means to justify it and continue to grow the business.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TJYZV7JWWJCPG7BX65EM6UOHZ4 Skowhegan Resident

IF YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH………STOP READING HERE

Very few people in this State can handle the truth. We live in a state where people LOVE DRUGS. Booze,POT, meth,now balt salts .. drugs are the gods of Maine …. the ENTIRE population of Maine needs to put in rehab
Anonymous

How is it the only people who seem to be afraid of bath salts are the people who don’t use them?
Anonymous

God help them. It’s like playing Russian roulette with 2 loaded guns.
Anonymous

i sent in a discuss item for this forum downgrading the media for publisizing this ‘bath salts’ dilemma, and thus making it more known and tehy wouldnt print it. thus teh censoring comment.
Anonymous

William E. Rockwood would you list the “benefit” of bath salts “when they’re used properly”.
Anonymous

and some of them vote.
Anonymous

AgentP the article list on a side bar the number of overdoses, not the number of law enforcement interactions with people on bath salts.
Anonymous

What do you think will happen?
Anonymous

So if the “ENTIRE population of Maine needs to put in rehab” will you be the first one in line?

Do you often generalize with such sweeping statements?
Moose

Good Question
Anonymous

ahh, thank you.
http://twitter.com/NorthernRants Bill Buck

BDN would go out of business if it didn’t have bath salts stories. They are more addicted to bath salts stories than the addicts to bath salts.
Anonymous

It has been around for some time now,with thousands maybe even tens of thousands of packets sold. There are less than one hundred people in the news for a bad trip. From what I’m told by users and medical personnel it is how often you use it that matters. This stuff keeps you awake for long periods of time. To long without sleep will make you hallucinate and have other reactions that aren’t very pleasant.
Anonymous

You can’t cure stupid
yowsayowsa1

I would love to be in, but rehab is for quitters.
yowsayowsa1

Thank you John Baldacci for giving us methadone clinics.
Anonymous

What ? No waldo county in this mix.
Anonymous

REEFER MADNESS, eh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefer_Madness
Anonymous

and they voted for LePlague…
acadiashores

I live in Maine. I am not addicted to any substances. Your logic is…well, illogical
acadiashores

I know what would happen! They would end up presenting at the ER anyway and then the hospital would have to pick up the tab. You know how they would do that? They get government money. So, either way the taxpayers pay. So, what’s the difference?
acadiashores

Yeah Presque Isle has some scary people walking around now.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Bynn/100002559168471 Paul Bynn

I guess that’s to be expected with the Bath Salts Daily News…

http://www.bangorbytes.com/2011/09/bangor-daily-news-is-addicted-to-bath.html
Anonymous

yeah not supost to play russian roulette with a glock lol
Anonymous

and thats why i don’t drive past acadia hospital any more they drive like maniacs on methadone (which is something i don’t get how is it legal they let them drive after dosing them methadone) i could believe how they would drive on both
Anonymous

doubt it
Anonymous

They could turn them away ?
Anonymous

um cause the others are in denial
Anonymous

ditto
acadiashores

Not if they take public money. There is a notice in every ER that accepts public funding that says they cannot turn you away based on your inability to pay.
Anonymous

When? When is this crap going to stop? When are the scumbags selling this crap going to be put away?
Kevin_Of_Bangor

My other comment was removed so I will ask this of you then.

What makes you an expert on this drug? You are the knowitall so you must know everything about it so please fill me in with the rest of the details.
Anonymous

And for dealing too!
Anonymous

lovely eye catching package…wonderful……………………NOTTT!
http://www.facebook.com/people/BobbieJo-Souppa/100000550344151 BobbieJo Souppa

the drug has actually been around since the late 70′s early 80′s i believe it started in europe and as for being an expert…well get on line and do some research if you wanna know more about it. It’s all over the place.
Kevin_Of_Bangor

I’m well aware of what the drug is and how long it has been around. I just wanted to hear the expert advice from knowitall.
Anonymous

When and if the law is changed.
Anonymous

Not even remotely the same thing.
Anonymous

First thing I thought of when I saw this article was now people can Google “AMP Bath salts” and find somewhere to buy them. So, I tried it. And ta da. It wasn’t 25 seconds before I found a site that was selling the exact same package of this crap for $34.95. So, showing a brand name package of something you want people to avoid is not too bright. I am sure people who are seeking this stuff would find it eventually on their own, but this makes it just too easy to find the exact stuff. Remember… AMP! Ask for it by name. Jeez.
Anonymous

So stop publicly funding them?
Anonymous

this is bad, we should put more marijuana smokers in jail to stop this…
acadiashores

No way. Right now there are so many people without insurance. If you cut pubic funding to hospitals they will be able to turn people away.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TJYZV7JWWJCPG7BX65EM6UOHZ4 Skowhegan Resident

could it be you cant handle the truth?

Ask Maine native Howie Carr his opinion of Maine people and drugs…..what was it he said on WVOM, ’3/4 of Mainers are either drunk or high at any given time’
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TJYZV7JWWJCPG7BX65EM6UOHZ4 Skowhegan Resident

could it be you cant handle the truth?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TJYZV7JWWJCPG7BX65EM6UOHZ4 Skowhegan Resident

could it be you cant handle the truth?
acadiashores

lol I do hope you are kidding. If you actually believe that ALL Mainers are addicted to drugs or alcohol I do believe you need some mental health treatment. I can handle the truth, can you?
Anonymous

no they didn’t.
Anonymous

likely all of them . . .
Anonymous

wasp spray works well and you can shoot it from 20 feet away
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_57XSD7IQNMUH4AC24E7NDNCB3Q tony b

so if its such an issue(which it is!)..hit the damn websites that are still this crap online!!! get the government involved if communities really wanna see this stuff totally gone!! here’s an example of a website i just found..and im sure there are MANY others!!

http://www.k2incenseonline.com/Drone-IV-Plus-Novelty-Powder-500mg–50-STATE-LEGAL_p_112.html
Anonymous

You are right on, Bushfan. In rural Maine, they end taxis for 100′s of miles to take these people to methadone clinics. It’s beyond reprehensible. These clinics are ‘for profit’ — why would they ever ‘wean’ anyone off meth??
Anonymous

Well I didn’t hear Howie Carr say that but I did read what you wrote so I will ask you again.

So if the “ENTIRE population of Maine (which includes you) needs to put in rehab” will you be the first one in line?
Anonymous

I went to a store in Florida last week and they had a huge sign in the window advertizing bath salts on sale. I asked a couple locals about bath salts and told them about the problems we have in Maine with this stuff and they replied–We dont know of any problem here with balt salts. I guess the cocaine is good enough in Florida to keep people of bath salts.
Anonymous

Ya, that and putting people’s names in the paper (UNLIKE SOME HIGHER CLASS NEWSPAPER COMPANIES) who take their own life,hey who cares about the families as long as they get their headlines.
Anonymous

Howie Carr? Really? Another fear monger who will say anything to get ratings. Maybe it seems to you like the whole state is drugs because you live in Skowhegan where meth and pillheads abound.
Anonymous

Read the article, it’s in there.
Anonymous

For a self proclaimed genious you sure do make some very ridiculous statements.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VI5WTVDOQEX4M6UAEVBC7GROOQ Kelly

The woman in Knox county tried to pull her fingernails out with pliers unless there are two ladies who think they have ticks…I was also surprised that they referenced the woman in the pipe; when that story was featured they would not say she was on bath salts. And I thought AMP was a Mt. Dew drink…
Anonymous

We still have our brain cells and know right from wrong, reality from fantasy, and have no desire to deal with someone who is this crazy.
Anonymous

Being “afraid” as you put it, seems to me to be citizens more concerned about the safety of those that use these drugs, the innocent people around the people that use them, and the people that have to deal with the people that use them. Then there are people like me who was witness to one of the more sensational incidents that made the paper. If you get to be one of these lucky people, you will or at least should treat this drug with a degree of fear. It is definately a scray thing to see.
Anonymous

Opinions are like rear ends…everyone has one and most of them stink.
Anonymous

I never claimed to be an expert on this drug. You really need to get over yourself. And by the way name calling only shows how low your I.Q. is. Just in case you can’t keep up, I’m referring to your comment that was deleted.
Anonymous

Now how can you argue with someone who cites Howie Carr as his expert on anything. Howie has made a very good living writing the same article but with different names about “hacks” for ages. Everyone knows if you hear it on WVOM it has to be true. LOL
Anonymous

it sounds terrible, so where is it coming from?
Anonymous

They don’t wean anyone off anything. That is not part of the program. I know of a girl that walked in there to quit, to better her life and be there for her kids, and the “methadone experts” (aka drug dealers) told her no, she couldn’t do it on her own and if she tried they would call DHS to come get her 2 children becauseaccording to them she couldn’t care for them and dry out at the same time. She assembled family to help her watch the kids, a great support system, she wanted her life back but had to keep going to the clinic and be monitored while they administered the poison. As you say, all for profit. Since the beginning of the drug dealer business, drug dealers try to keep their buyers hooked or they are out of business. Remember in business 101, it costs 10 times as much to get a new client than retain a current one. Same thing with the biggest drug dealers of them all, Acadia, discovery house, and the other one.

We have been sold a bunch of garbage by these medical scumbags that run these poison centers. People need to WAKE UP and see them for what they are…Drug Dealing Scumbags.
Anonymous

Well kevin of bangor i dont think it matters if your a know it all. I know what i see and people and familys are being effected and hurt by this drug. Its time for people to stop sitting back and thinking there cool cause they know all about it. Its time to make a stand and only the strong people will. In fact i have a shirt that i made that says “when ppl said get clean we didn’t mean smoke soap”. I’m not afraid and if you are an enabler in any way, shape or form you are as much a part of the problem as the addicts.
http://www.facebook.com/kelly.mahar Kelly Mahar

As a mom of 3, I am scared to death my 13, 17, 18, and year old children will experiment
with this scary, lethal drug. I have taught them the best I know how to stay away from any drug but the peer pressure is a big factor I feel. I realize it’s a choice people are making themselves to use these Bath Salts, but when you’re not in “the right crowd” or hanging out with the “cool kids”, these kids are made fun of, teased and treated like dirt. I’m a recovering addict of 12 years and I’m not proud of that. My kids have seen first hand what drugs can do. I know that’s a terrible way for them to learn and I live with the guilt and the failure I was as a mom, but I’ve done my best over the years to make them aware and teach them correctly. It’s a struggle every single day of my life. You have to want the help before you get well, and I wanted it after 7 rehabs, and 2 years of using drugs which broke me, took life as I knew it and turned my world upside down. That too was a choice I made, nobody forced me to use. All we can do as parents is do our best raising our kids, educating them and hope and pray they take the right path in life and make smart choices. The risks these people are taking using this drug is so scary! I was addicted to Opiates, Narcotics, and whatever I could get my hands 12 years ago and I’m currently in @ Methadone Maintenance Treatment at The Discovery House . I’m certainly not perfect by any means and I have relapsed in the 12 years of being on Methadone. I know their are many opinions about MMT but folks, it helped me. It got me off the street drugs. I understand people think it’s a bad drug and is just a substitute for Opiates. Iv’e been so thankful for the ongoing counseling and support that go along with MMT and I’ve been blessed to still have support from my family and people I love and care about. I’m very fortunate to still have these people in my life as some people lose everything they have. Bath Salts are killing our next generation whether it’s by death, mentally or physically. It destroys brain cells and becomes an ongoing battle for addiction for the rest of their lives. Are they still legal in Maine? I’ve heard many stories of people going to other states to obtain this drug. I’d like to see more education being taught in schools, public meetings and so forth. I’d appreciate all of your opinions about MMT. We need to get out there and educate people about any and all drugs! Thx for reading and for your responses in advance!
http://www.facebook.com/kelly.mahar Kelly Mahar

As a mom of 3, I am scared to death my 13, 17, 18, and year old children will experiment
with this scary, lethal drug. I have taught them the best I know how to stay away from any drug but the peer pressure is a big factor I feel. I realize it’s a choice people are making themselves to use these Bath Salts, but when you’re not in “the right crowd” or hanging out with the “cool kids”, these kids are made fun of, teased and treated like dirt. I’m a recovering addict of 12 years and I’m not proud of that. My kids have seen first hand what drugs can do. I know that’s a terrible way for them to learn and I live with the guilt and the failure I was as a mom, but I’ve done my best over the years to make them aware and teach them correctly. It’s a struggle every single day of my life. You have to want the help before you get well, and I wanted it after 7 rehabs, and 2 years of using drugs which broke me, took life as I knew it and turned my world upside down. That too was a choice I made, nobody forced me to use. All we can do as parents is do our best raising our kids, educating them and hope and pray they take the right path in life and make smart choices. The risks these people are taking using this drug is so scary! I was addicted to Opiates, Narcotics, and whatever I could get my hands 12 years ago and I’m currently in @ Methadone Maintenance Treatment at The Discovery House . I’m certainly not perfect by any means and I have relapsed in the 12 years of being on Methadone. I know their are many opinions about MMT but folks, it helped me. It got me off the street drugs. I understand people think it’s a bad drug and is just a substitute for Opiates. Iv’e been so thankful for the ongoing counseling and support that go along with MMT and I’ve been blessed to still have support from my family and people I love and care about. I’m very fortunate to still have these people in my life as some people lose everything they have. Bath Salts are killing our next generation whether it’s by death, mentally or physically. It destroys brain cells and becomes an ongoing battle for addiction for the rest of their lives. Are they still legal in Maine? I’ve heard many stories of people going to other states to obtain this drug. I’d like to see more education being taught in schools, public meetings and so forth. I’d appreciate all of your opinions about MMT. We need to get out there and educate people about any and all drugs! Thx for reading and for your responses in advance!
http://www.facebook.com/kelly.mahar Kelly Mahar

As a mom of 3, I am scared to death my 13, 17, 18, and year old children will experiment
with this scary, lethal drug. I have taught them the best I know how to stay away from any drug but the peer pressure is a big factor I feel. I realize it’s a choice people are making themselves to use these Bath Salts, but when you’re not in “the right crowd” or hanging out with the “cool kids”, these kids are made fun of, teased and treated like dirt. I’m a recovering addict of 12 years and I’m not proud of that. My kids have seen first hand what drugs can do. I know that’s a terrible way for them to learn and I live with the guilt and the failure I was as a mom, but I’ve done my best over the years to make them aware and teach them correctly. It’s a struggle every single day of my life. You have to want the help before you get well, and I wanted it after 7 rehabs, and 2 years of using drugs which broke me, took life as I knew it and turned my world upside down. That too was a choice I made, nobody forced me to use. All we can do as parents is do our best raising our kids, educating them and hope and pray they take the right path in life and make smart choices. The risks these people are taking using this drug is so scary! I was addicted to Opiates, Narcotics, and whatever I could get my hands 12 years ago and I’m currently in @ Methadone Maintenance Treatment at The Discovery House . I’m certainly not perfect by any means and I have relapsed in the 12 years of being on Methadone. I know their are many opinions about MMT but folks, it helped me. It got me off the street drugs. I understand people think it’s a bad drug and is just a substitute for Opiates. Iv’e been so thankful for the ongoing counseling and support that go along with MMT and I’ve been blessed to still have support from my family and people I love and care about. I’m very fortunate to still have these people in my life as some people lose everything they have. Bath Salts are killing our next generation whether it’s by death, mentally or physically. It destroys brain cells and becomes an ongoing battle for addiction for the rest of their lives. Are they still legal in Maine? I’ve heard many stories of people going to other states to obtain this drug. I’d like to see more education being taught in schools, public meetings and so forth. I’d appreciate all of your opinions about MMT. We need to get out there and educate people about any and all drugs! Thx for reading and for your responses in advance!
Anonymous

hhhhhh
Anonymous

kkkkk
waynorth1

Glad I’m not the only one who noticed…………..hubby thinks I’m paranoid……uh, no….they’re comin’ in droves unfortunately. I used to feel safe.
Subject: [bdn] Re: Bath salts drug use spreading throughout Maine, officials say
Anonymous

I apologize for the 2 comments I left that said hhh..LOL,,I’m new here and I didn’t realize it would post when I was trying to edit my settings..Sorry everybody :)
Anonymous

“We don’t get involved until somebody has taken enough to flip out on it,” Wilson said. Great approach officer. What is this guys deal??????????????
Anonymous

“We don’t get involved until somebody has taken enough to flip out on it,” Wilson said. Great approach officer. What is this guys deal??????????????
Anonymous

“We don’t get involved until somebody has taken enough to flip out on it,” Wilson said. Great approach officer. What is this guys deal??????????????
Anonymous

Congrads on your 1000 viewing of A Few Good Men. Remember ….One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Anonymous

what the hell are peaple snorting basically miracle grow and rat poision what is wrong with these peaple
Anonymous

what the hell are peaple snorting basically miracle grow and rat poision what is wrong with these peaple
Kevin_Of_Bangor

LOL! WUT?
Kevin_Of_Bangor

I test anywhere from 130 to 140 on IQ test and if that is considered low then so be it.

If you don’t have a desire for someone to call you out don’t use a user name such as knowitall because you are implying that you know everything.
Kevin_Of_Bangor

I test anywhere from 130 to 140 on IQ test and if that is considered low then so be it.

If you don’t have a desire for someone to call you out don’t use a user name such as knowitall because you are implying that you know everything.
acadiashores

You are definitely not being paranoid. I am a social worker and I know for a fact that we have gangs here, huge drug issues, we have people prostituting…basically all the problems of the cities. I would NOT walk the streets of PI after dark alone.
Anonymous

Now you are a self proclaimed genius. You really need to get over yourself. It’s like having a battle of whits with an unarmed man. In another post you admit that I am right about the drug. Now you continue to look like the north end of a south bound horse.
Anonymous

Have you heard about any good trips in the news lately?
Kevin_Of_Bangor

When did I proclaim myself to be a genius?
waynorth1

Wow, bad time to walk home in the dark tonight and then read this. Guess I hoped it wasn’t happening, but being a social worker, you obviously know the capacity of the problem more than myself, the simplistic dog-walking self. Definitely going to Ben’s Trading Post and loading up on something that will repel someone on a walk. The 8.5 lb cockapoo won’t save me. Not enough lighting around town unless you take main street. Thanks for the heads up. Really? Prostitution? Where are they soliciting? Haven’t seen that yet.

Subject: [bdn] Re: Bath salts drug use spreading throughout Maine, officials say
kkmousse

Well according to Internet Encyclopedia the drug first was patented in 1929 and just sat on a shelf for many many years. Then in the early 2003 it started appearing in Europe and then finally here. They are not sure if this stuff is made in India or China.
That makes no difference. The interesting part is that someone or group of someone came up with a marketing idea to sell the stuff and get it under the radar of most Drug Laws. Now was are playing catchup to something that has hit all the states at about the same time.
This was all I managed to find out after seeing the WABI program a few weeks ago. Very interesting what you can find out and also what you can not find out!
Anonymous

Any more questions how bad this stuff is? Any more flip comments? Any more confusion, that it is NOT salts for the bath? Any more off point camparisons to abuse of alcohol or legalization of marijuana?
Anonymous

And how many bad trips do we not hear about? How many do we tolerate, whatever the number?
Anonymous

IO know you are but what em I
Anonymous

maybe have two hospitals and see which one survives ?
acadiashores

The prostitution that I am aware of is basically girls offering themselves to guys they kind of know through other people in exchange for money or drugs.

Health

Previous story:

Next story:

Bath salts drug use spreading throughout Maine, officials say

Related stories

Bath salts overdoses reported to the Northern New England Poison Center by county

Similar articles:

Marketplace News

Marketplace

Marketplace Coupons

BDN Blogs

Health Unsurance

Recovery Rocks

Got Bad Air

Kids Gone Raw

Bangor Daily News

About Us

Subscribe

Advertising

On Facebook

On Twitter