Five Teen Drug Trends You Shouldn't Ignore

Five Teen Drug Trends You Shouldn't Ignore

Experienced parents know that fads come and go. Something that ignites teen fever one day may fizzle into nothing a few weeks later.

But when it comes to teen drug use, trendy designer drugs can be just as dangerous as the substances we've been warned about for decades. Even those that quickly lose their appeal among teens do their share of damage along the way.

Here are five of the most dangerous teen drug trends you shouldn't ignore:

Teen Drug Trend #1: Bath Salts

Bath salts hit the teen drug scene in 2010 and have since become a serious concern among law enforcement, hospitals, drug rehabs and parents. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, calls about bath salts are up from 303 in all of 2010 to 3,470 between January and June of 2011.

Bath salts are stimulants similar to meth and cocaine, but they are being sold legally under the names Vanilla Sky, Aura, Hurricane Charlie, Ivory Wave and many others. To get around the laws that would make bath salts illegal, manufacturers label them "not for human consumption" and sometimes market them as plant food or other seemingly innocuous products.

kratom wholesale - The active chemicals in bath salts are mephedrone and MDPV, but there is currently no reliable way to test for these drugs. At least 35 states have banned ingredients found in bath salts and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is considering making these drugs controlled Schedule I drugs like heroin and ecstasy, yet teens are still easily accessing these drugs.