OGDEN -- A new product being marketed as bath salts but can be used similar to cocaine is slowly making its way through the Top of Utah, law enforcement officials say.
The product goes by many names, but is most commonly known as Ivory Wave. It is packaged as bath salts, but a quick web search shows many are snorting or injecting the product to get a high similar to, or even more intense than, cocaine.
Weber-Morgan Drug Strike Force Lt. Darin Parke said his officers have seen the drug recently while executing search warrants.
"We've seen it during our raids," he said. "It's not illegal, so people are pretty open about it."
Parke said while officers have seen instances of it, they haven't received a lot of information from many people about it.
Ogden Police Lt. Scott Conley said they have begun seeing the bath salts as well, but not in high numbers.
"We're hearing about it, and seeing it a little bit," he said.
The Associated Press reports that four Utahns have been hospitalized as of last week because of the effects of the drug.
While it may give a cocaine-like high, many users are also reporting feelings of paranoia, fighting, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, rapid heartbeat and hypertension. In other states, several people under the drug's influence have reportedly tried to kill themselves or injure friends or family.
Ivory Wave is marketed much like the synthetic marijuana product Spice -- while the packaging says it is not meant for human consumption, buyers know they can use the product as a legal way to get high.
Because it is marketed as a bath salt, it is carried in a variety of stores, but is found most often in tobacco shops.
Conley said he believes the main age-group using the substance are those school-aged to early 30s.
"It's the younger age group," he said. "Those that are experimenting with everything and anything out there to create a mind-altering effect."
So far, representatives from both McKay-Dee Hospital and Ogden Regional Medical Center said they have not heard of any cases of anyone receiving treatment after using Ivory Wave.
"No one is familiar with it," said Craig Bielik, spokesman for Ogden Regional. "We're not seeing it yet. It's kind of new to hit Utah."
Parke said there is not much action the strike force can take when they find people with Ivory Wave in their possession because the substance is technically legal.
"We could take it temporarily and send samples to the lab to see if there are chemicals on it that are regulated," he said. "The same way with Spice."
But will Ivory Wave become much like Spice, which was recently banned nationwide by the Drug Enforcement Administration?
Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, who has worked to ban flavored tobacco, salvia, and Spice, said that it is unclear right now. Because it is so new to the state, and relatively few people have even heard of the drug, it's a tough call whether to try to ban the product, he said.
Ray said he blames TV media outlets, which have previously reported on the little-known drug, for it gaining popularity in the area.
"It's getting interesting at this point," he said. "We have the media trying to find things that are used as drugs that nobody knows about. We can't keep banning every substance. I fault the media more than anybody else at this point."
Ray said products such as canned whipped cream and spray paint also can be used to get high but there is no way those products would ever be regulated.
"You can get high off of a lot of stuff," he said. "We would have to start banning everything."
But Ivory Wave will still make it on the list of products to be discussed by the Controlled Substance Advisory Committee, who makes recommendations to the Legislature for possible legal actions, he said.
The dangers of ingesting the bath salts are currently unknown. Officials from the Utah Poison Control Center were unavailable to comment on the possible dangers.
Parke said what worries him most is that people may think the drugs are made in a clean environment, but that is rarely the case.
"This stuff is dangerous," he said. "They have no idea (how it's made.) It's so unregulated on the manufacturing end."
He compared Ivory Wave again to Spice, saying users can't always know how their drug is being produced.
"We ran into a Spice manufacturing facility during a search warrant," he said. "He had it right there next to his cocaine operation."
Standard-Examiner Reporter Michael McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.SClB
Comments