Bath salts are similar to cocaine, new study says
Baggies of typical “bath salts” are seen in Washington, DC.
In the new study of adult mice, University of North Carolina researchers have found that bath salts are similar to cocaine, HealthDay reported. The mice in the study were implanted with brain-stimulating electrodes and then trained to run on a wheel in order to get a reward. Some of the mice were given bath salts while others were given cocaine. The researchers found that bath salts and cocaine had similar effects on the mice's brain reward circuits.
Based on those findings, researchers say that bath salts are just as addictive as cocaine, Live Science reported.
More from GlobalPost: When the BRICs crumble
On a related note, the mice that were given bath salts did not eat each other alive.
President Obama banned the sale, production, and possession of bath salts less than a month ago. Since then, the Drug Enforcement Agency made 90 bath salt-related arrests, ABC News reported. “The criminal organizations behind the importation, distribution and selling of these synthetic drugs have scant regard for human life in their reckless pursuit of illicit profits,” and Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told ABC.