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LA City Council Bans Sale Of Bath Salts Over Drug-Like Effects

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — If you like to unwind from a long day with bath salts, you may need to find a new source of rejuvenation.

KNX 1070's Claudia Peschiutta reports the Los Angeles City Council approved a motion to ban the sale and use of bath salts and other home products that contain any chemical derivative of methcathinone.

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The synthetic stimulants are intended to mimic the effects of illegal drugs like cocaine and meth, but are widely available and virtually unregulated online and even in some stores around the city.

Councilman Paul Koretz called for the local ban, which he said is an important preventative step.

"Bath salts are quietly a very serious drug that has been raging across the country," said Koretz. "They're named innocuously, but they have the properties of the worst and most dangerous drugs combined."

The salts can sometimes produce the hallucinogenic effects of LSD or feelings of superhuman strength similar to the effects of PCP and other stimulants.

The ordinance makes it unlawful for any person to sell, exchange, or otherwise distribute to any person products containing mephedrone, MDPV, or any other chemical derivative of methcathinone except as authorized by law.

Local lawmakers are also calling for the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and legislators in Sacramento to enact bath salt bans.

"This can be literally a life or death issue," said Koretz.

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