Despite a presence in other Atlantic provinces – not to mention recent widespread media coverage – "bath salts" haven't made their way to P.E.I., the RCMP say.
Meanwhile, this week's move by the federal government to make one of the street drug's key ingredients illegal could make the dangerous substance even less likely to show up on the Island.
Bath salts is one of the street names of the white-powder narcotic known to cause hallucinations and violent behaviour in its users.
Cpl. Reg Campbell, head of the P.E.I. RCMP's drug awareness service, said police haven't received any reports from emergency rooms or addictions services about bath salts use on the Island.
"Right now, there's no indication of it being here," said Campbell.
"That's not to say there's not someone experimenting with it here, it's just that we're not aware of it. I'm a bit concerned of the close proximity with New Brunswick and the New Glasgow and Truro areas of Nova Scotia (where the drug has appeared). We are sending information out to our officers and partners about the dangers of bath salts and what to look for."
Users of bath salts typically inhale or inject the drug, which started appearing in Atlantic Canada a few years ago. The effects are similar to the highs experienced by amphetamine users.
Bath salts recently received international attention after a man in Miami was shot and killed by police when he refused to stop eating the face of another man. Authorities in the Florida city believe the culprit was high on the drug.
Due to the attention on bath salts in the wake of the incident, the Canadian government announced its intentions to make methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) an illegal Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
MDPV has been used medically in some appetite suppressants. Recently, the sugar-like clumps have been popping up online as "plant food" or "bath salts" to skirt drug-control laws.
"I applaud the efforts of Health Canada and the government in pushing these things through," said Campbell. "Mephedrone and methylone are other stimulant drugs that are in these bath salts, (but) it was only the MDPV that wasn't regulated yet.
"Once that is regulated, it will give police better enforcement power to seize any of these drugs. Right now we'd be seizing something like that anyway until we had it analyzed to determine what was in it."
sbrun@journalpioneer.com
