emergency responders, health officials and the public had met today to discuss the growing "bath salts" crisis here in CNY.
SYRACUSE -- Close to three hundred people turned out at OCC Friday for a public forum on bath salts.
The forum, hosted by the Onondaga County Department of Health, featured a panel of experts who answered questions about the drug.
There has been a rash of recent incidents involving people on bath salts acting violently. Much of the discussion focused on what emergency responders, law enforcement and school officials can do to protect themselves when they encounter someone using the synthetic drugs.
The Health Department says the use of bath salts is a growing threat. Dr. Cynthia Morrow, head of the Onondaga Co. Dept. of Health said, "This is a very new phenomenon for us, the bath salts phenomenon. I think it is the fear of when you have someone who behaves unpredictably on bath salts, it scares people."
Dr. Alexander Garrand from the Upstate Poison Control Center agreed. "These patients are unpredictable. They can be very violent, a harm to themselves and others, so there is an extreme risk to first responders and we've been doing a lot of education on first responders about the appropriate use of medications and what the best drugs are to use."
There have been 273 calls about bath salts to the Upstate Poison Control center so far this year. That is more than double the number from all of last year.
If you missed Fridays forum on bath salts, there will be another one at Crouse Hospital next Thursday, July 26.
