Move over bath salts, there is a new chemical substance out there, and it’s called Smiles. Increasingly popular among young people, this new synthetic substance comes in a powder form and is taken with chocolate and candy. The drug is already linked to a couple of deaths in the U.S. One of which was a teenager who stopped breathing several hours after consuming the substance. Witnesses say the young man was growling, foaming at the mouth, smashing his head against the ground and acting ‘possessed’.
The drug can cause hallucinations by interfering with the body’s serotonin levels and in some cases it has been known to linger in the body for days. Smiles can also cause severe dehydration and can have the effect of mixing ecstasy and LSD at the same time, a frightening combination.
Like its synthetic predecessors, such as K-2 and bath salts, smiles seems to appeal to a younger demographic—half of those exposed to it in 2011 were teenagers, according to the American Association of Poison Control.
It is worrisome how quickly new synthetic drugs are popping up at such a rapid rate. Seemingly every week we are hearing about a new chemical threat that is affecting the youth. Smiles seems to provide the danger that some teenagers are looking for, as well as the adequate high one gets from ingesting the drug. It also provides something new for parents of teenagers and young adults to educate themselves about, but with very little information on this new substance, that may prove very difficult. The DEA In the U.S. Has declared the manufacturing of the drug to be illegal, but one doctor in the article warns that the real campaign against Smiles has been a struggle because of the misinformation spread by young people on social networking sites and chat rooms over the internet.