[Marty62]

So is the DEA going to arrest the local liquor store clerk.

[Dallas59]

Are that screwed up that they have to get high?

[rockvillem]

Didn’t one of the most highly publicized recent “bath salt” cases end up with a blood test showing there were none of them in the dude’s bloodstream?

Reminds me of the hysteria over Four Loko. These products may not have any societal benefit, but god forbid we let people make their own choices.

[KeyLargo]

"DEA Announces Emergency Ban on Bath Salts"

"Ooooh nooo". "Thaat will be wruff on my bottom"

[Scotsman will be Free]

I’ve got a problem with the DEA having the authority to ban anything.

[microgood]

DEA has made it clear we will not hesitate to use our emergency scheduling authority to control these dangerous chemicals that pose a significant and growing threat to our nation.

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

H. L. Mencken

[ozzymandus]

Some dunce here in KS got convicted for selling “bath salts”, even though they were not illegal at the time he sold them. Beware of publicity-hungry prosecutors.

[RobertClark]

What was it that even Jerry (Moonbeam) Brown uttered today when he vetoed a law mandating bicycle helmets?

"Not every human problem requires a law"

Moonbeam freakin' Brown uttered those words. This is sheer lunacy. We better ban swimming pools and bathtubs - they have caused far more life-altering injuries and death than bath salts have. Heck, let's just ban water!

[Little Ray]

Is this the stuff people get at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and put in their baths to soak, or is this some sort of joke or what?

[Vendome]

I don’t understand.

I have been using bath salts and epsom salts for years to soothe aching muscles and sore feet.

How exactly do you get high from this?

Personally, I can’t stand using them because waiting around is like sunbathing to me: A huge waste of time.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I guess I’ve never been lucky enough to shop a place seedy enough to carry this, if they’re talking about teeny tiny portions that couldn’t salt a dog dish, let alone a bathtub.
Do the instructions really tell the user to put it in a tub of water?

[wastoute]

Can the DEA do this? Doesn’t Congress at least have SOME (misguided) role here?

[tacticalogic]

it will use its emergency authority to ban chemicals used in legal synthetic drugs known as bath salts, calling the chemicals an "imminent hazard" to the public.

I want to know what else these chemicals are used for that's now going to become impossible/stupid expensive to get.

[Sarajevo]

There goes my supply of magnesium sulfate.........

[kcvl]

Bath salts contain manmade chemicals like mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV, also known as substituted cathinones. Both drugs are related to khat, an organic stimulant found in Arab and East African countries that is illegal in the United States.

They are similar to so-called synthetic marijuana, which has also caused a surge in medical emergencies and been banned in a number of states. In March, the Drug Enforcement Administration used emergency powers to temporarily ban five chemicals used in synthetic marijuana, which is sold in the same types of shops as bath salts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/us/17salts.html?pagewanted=all

[kcvl]

It is not bath salts that you bath in. They just call it that.

When mephedrone was rediscovered in 2003, it was not specifically illegal to possess in any country. As its use has increased many countries have passed legislation making the possession, sale and manufacturing of mephedrone illegal.

[takenoprisoner]

Emergency authority? WTH? The DEA has emergency authority?

How long before the DEA declares emergency authority against glue? Anyone selling glue will be arrested.

Tell me again, what country is this? A free country? A global enforcer in the fight for freedom country?