Beware of 'bath salts' and 'American weed' drugs attacking Vietnamese youth

"Bath salts" extracted from khat leaves, were named after bath salts to fool regulators.

At the National Conference on Substance Use Disorders and HIV in Ho Chi Minh City on August 3, Dr. Huynh Thanh Hien, Ho Chi Minh City Mental Hospital saidRecently, many new types of drugs have appeared such as bath salts, American weed, and paper stamps. The main criteria for determining a drug are that it can be addictive, has harmful effects on the mind, nerves, and body, tends to increase in dosage, and is prohibited by law.

According to Dr. Hien,These new drugs do not test positive with the current rapid drug tests in Vietnam, causing many difficulties in prevention work. There is still no specific treatment regimen in the world. The important thing is to educate children to recognize and avoid addictive games, not to be curious and "try it for the sake of it".

Because of its effects on the nervous system, drugs can lead tosleepiness after use in the stimulant group and subsequent sleepiness.Common psychotic symptoms are hallucinations, paranoia, and behavioral agitation.Long-term use can cause personality changes,cost a lot of money and lose the ability to study, work, andRobbery to get money to satisfy addiction.

Bath salts

Is the slang name for a drug with the chemical nameThe drug is mephedrone or cathinone, or a mixture of both.above.Bath salts are extracted from the leaves of the khat plant, which grows wild in the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. This drug isnamed after the salt product used to mix in relaxing baths and beautify the skin, in order to deceive the authorities.

The bath salt drug product has the words “not for human consumption”. Photo: elkhart

This type of drug always has the words "not for human consumption" on it.The way of use is similar to crystal meth, which is to burn and inhale it. Their mechanism of action is similar to crystal meth, also causing psychotic symptoms, hallucinations, and easily leading to violence for themselves and those around them.

American Grass

Also known as Australian weed, Canadian weed. This is slang for a new type of cannabis,a mixture of leaves from various plants and infused with psychoactive substances. The packaging also says “not for human consumption”.

Weed has a more varied and complex composition than bath salts. The composition varies depending on the market the manufacturer is targeting. If the market is a country that prohibits marijuana, the herb is replaced with another type of leaf. According to experts,Weed can be considered a drug mixture and has pharmacological effects similar to marijuana but stronger, combined with effects similar to crystal meth, so it is very dangerous.

Similar to bath salts, weed was previously sold in convenience stores and gas stations in the United States and Europe. Now bath salts and weed are banned in most countries.

American weed is packaged and rolled into cigarettes for use. Photo: CA

Paper stamp - tongue charm

These are sold in the form of small stamp-like pieces of paper and are quite cheap.Use by licking with tongue like stamping or suckingtip of tongueIt is essentially a piece of paper soaked in the hallucinogen LSD.is the most powerful hallucinogen known, with only a few dozen mcg being sufficient to cause hallucinations and is considered one of the two most dangerous drugs.

The mechanism of action of LSD is quite complex.The half-life is 5 hours but the duration of action is up to 12 hours and with high doses psychotic symptoms can last for several days.

Many people use tongue charms, American weed, and bath salts instead of drugs. Photo: TH

According to Dr. Hien,Since the law prohibits this substance, there will often be new substances that have not been discovered and banned to replace it, so the fight against drugs always poses many challenges.Currently, there are two new drugs in the world that have not appeared in Vietnam: Benzylpiperazine and Gama hydroxyl-butyric. "Perhaps because these two substances have weaker effects than the above substances, the level of spread is less," Dr. Hien analyzed./.

According to VNE