I just started on All The Rage last night and today caught a CNN broadcast about the "Bath Salts" drug craze. I must lead a sheltered life, because I immediately thought to myself how crazy it was that people were actually snorting Epsom Salts--no wonder Bed, Bath and Beyond is always crowded LOL

I did some research and found out that Bath Salts are an umbrella title that refers to Mephedrone and MDPV, a stimulant and psychoactive drug. It's uses have been connected to: A cross-dressing goat killer, a priest-stabber, a man who believed he was being chased by electricity, a festive trespasser, a man who believed his 5-year-old was "possessed," etc., as well as the two recent cannibal incidents.

As I'd been absorbed in the plot of All The Rage, it just struck me as precient and oddly synchronistic. Of course, it's widely known that certain drugs can cause psychopathic behavior, but I hadn't been aware of this particular drug(s) and it's bizarre and deadly after-effect.

If you've read Simon R. Green's Hawk and Fisher books you'd think these people were taking Super Chacal.

Note that the recent "zombie" attack in Miami had an update today on the tox report -- nothing in his bloodstream except a bit of cannabis.

No 'roid rage, no bath salts, no PCP.

The reports on this dude were that he had a history of violence, and used pot to keep himself calm, but had recently quit after joining a religious group. How that lead to him chewing the face off a homeless man is still a mystery.

So much for "opiate of the masses."

Cannabis ... Cannibal ... Coincidence?

I THINK NOT!

a guy in that stuff over in Roanoke chewed onhis mother's arm.


the zombies. they are coming.

<---- quickly checks news to see if sunrise was on time today

Any drug that breaks down the barrier between fantasy and reality can trigger all kinds of insane behavior, especially if there is an underlying psychosis of some kind already...and I think most people have thoughts, fantasies, or emotional baggage of some kind that are both knowingly and subconsciously suppressed by the built in moral compass most of us have. Take away the inhibitions and most any behavior becomes possible, where logic and morality both go out the window. When you add to that the fact that some of these drugs seem to stimulate a hallucinogenic, psychotic state, it just gets that much worse. I think the guy in Florida was probably just crazy to start with, he didn't need any drug to set him off...another unfortunate example of someone who obviously needed help and didn't get it. He turned to "religion", but religion doesn't cure anything.

Not about Bath Salts, but definitely about drugs and how they mess with your mind:

I fell and banged up my hand the other day--nothing serious but I went to the hospital to get it looked at. They gave me a scrip for some Vicodin. Took a couple last night to help me get some sleep. GOOD LORD! I had the most horrific, vivid nightmares in my life! The Vikes go in the trash and I'll live through the mild pain my hand is in for a few days. How anyone could get addicted to those little mind-benders is beyond me.

I take a beta blocker for hypertension, and the nightmares are pretty much a constant. Just a side effect you have to live with.

It's funny how the media reports that every criminal is hopped up on bath salts now. They seldom correct themselves later when the truth actually comes out. There is a big witch hunt for bath salts, high capacity magazines, and Castle Doctrins right now. Every story is manipulated to get public perception geared toward more government regulation. And those 3 seem to be the biggest targets right now.