"Bath salts" growing problem in Valley

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Tiny containers of powder with names like "White Lightning" are becoming a major problem in the Miami Valley.

The containers are called bath salts or plant food and can be sold legally. But people are buying them and then snorting, smoking or injecting the powder to get high.

"Folks act like they're on PCP where they have no clue what's going on," says Ken Betz with the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab.

The Crime Lab has seen five cases involving bath salts in the last two weeks alone. Two are traffic fatalities, two are DUI's and one is an overdose.

"What's very concerning to us is people are taking this and driving and their ability to function behind the wheel is zero," Betz says.

But the drivers aren't the only ones in danger. Just this past weekend a Celina man, who police say was using bath salts, shot his wife in the hand and put bullet holes in his house. Officers say the man was hallucinating and thought he was in danger.

"We've seen stories where police will respond to a residence where someone will be burying themselves in the backyard thinking aliens are coming or someone is attacking them," Betz says.

State Representative Clayton Luckie is pushing a bill to ban the bath salts, just as other states have already done. But officials worry that manufacturers will just change the chemical compound of the drug to something that isn't banned.

So for many the bottom line is warning people about the dangers of using the bath salts.

"There's no reason somebody should be taking these substances," Betz says. "You're introducing into your body a totally unknown chemical and you have no idea how you're going to personally react to it."