Each generation seems to bring new drugs to worry about with it.
Parents were once concerned about their teenagers getting their hands on alcohol or marijuana.
Today, the scene is much scarier.
While underage drinking and smoking marijuana are illegal for good reasons and concern over use is warranted, they pale in comparison to the newest drug trend.
Synthetic drugs seem to be the next hot thing among teens and even some adults looking to get high.
It’s no surprise drugs seem to be following the same path as most everything else in our world from food to clothing to building materials.
Virtually everything we come in contact with can be found in some unnaturally occurring form, whether it’s packaged food or quick-drying workout shirts.
People are capable of manipulating the smallest of factors that make up the world we see around us.
The same is true on the drug scene bringing the introduction of spice and bath salts.
Man-made controlled substances are causing problems, and our communities are scrambling to deal with.
First responders and hospital personnel encountered the problem when they came into contact with people acting and reacting in extremely strange ways not associated with other drugs.
We’ve heard horror stories come out of the emergency room and from police officers and paramedics who’ve dealt with people using these substances.
Some of the abusers make it through the effects while others don’t.
Due to the drugs’ synthetic makeup, banning the substances proved difficult. Manufacturers simply tweaked something here or there and slapped a new name on it claiming it wasn’t the same product.
In Yavapai County, the legal system stepped in, identifying businesses that sold the products and banned them specifically from doing so.
While leaders in the legal community, MATForce and the schools scramble to make these drugs unavailable, it’s also important to raise awareness in the community as a whole.
Many people I talk to don’t even know what bath salts and spice are.
Getting rid of a drug starts with prevention. If there isn’t anybody willing to use a substance, demand will diminish.
Trista Steers MacVittie
Managing Editor
