The use of the synthetic drug called Bath Salts has caused serious health problems, even death, and now the military is speaking out about its dangers.
The U.S. Navy released a PSA to show what a user experiences while under the influence.
Bath salts are illegal. But you can still find them, oftentimes at convenience stores or head shops.
It hasn't been tested for safety and users don't know what chemicals they are putting into their bodies.
Staff at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center see people sporadically who are having an adverse reaction to bath salts. About a year ago, they treated a 22-year-old patient who had a stroke from taking the drug. Fortunately, he recovered.
The Navy's PSA shows a young man who snorts bath salts and his life turns into a nightmare. He suffers from hallucinations, delusions, and becomes violent before he's restrained.
The Navy wants to stop the spread of synthetic drug use among those serving.
Lt. George Loeffler with the U.S. Navy told ABC News, "Sometimes like a college dorm or frat house, sailors live together and they share a barracks room together and when someone does something others see it and can emulate it. And so our goal is to nip this in the bud."
In the video, Vice Admiral Matthew Nathan talked about how serious the drug is and said users can, in effect, make themselves schizophrenic.
"When people are using bath salts they're not their normal selves. They're angrier. They're erratic. They're violent. They're unpredictable," Nathan explained.
The Navy is taking the dangers of bath salts very seriously and will now randomly test sailors for the drug as an added precaution, according to ABC News.
The effects of using bath salts can last up to a week after using it.
Nationwide last year, there were more than 2,500 calls to poison centers concerning exposure to bath salts, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
