Bath salts suspected in Hong Kong attack
Staff Reporter 2012-11-28 14:52
A quantity of heroin hidden in golf balls seized at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. (Photo/courtesy of Taiwan customs authority)
Police in Hong Kong police arrested a man on Nov. 24 after he attacked a woman on the street with his teeth.
The suspect, who had first pummeled a middle school security guard at Kwai Shing Circuit at 11:40 pm, may have been under the influence of "bath salts," the street name for designers drugs which in a number of instances have sent users into a psychotic and violent state. Nine minutes after attacking the guard, he attacked a young woman, biting her neck, according to the state-run China News Service.
The local newspaper Wen Wei Po said that the suspect is a 19-year-old man whose mental condition was unstable at the time of his arrest, leading to suspicions that he was acting under the influence of powerful drugs.
The principal ingredient of bath salts is methylone (MDPV), a stimulant in the form of a white crystallized powder. A spate of recent incidents in which users have become like animals and attacked other people with their teeth has given rise to the term "bath salt zombies" in American media.
Baths salts usage has also been reported in Taiwan, when the emergency room of Taipei Veterans General Hospital received a tense, middle-aged man complaining of complete loss of feeling in his arms and legs. The patient said he had taken some white powder three hours earlier. Tests confirmed the presence of MDVP in his urine.
According to figures compiled by Hong Kong's medical authorities, there are an increasing number of people in the city with psychological issues due to drug abuse. Between 2009 and 2010, there were 1,330 cases, but the number has already been surpassed in 2012 with 1,530 cases, representing a 14% increase in three years.
