A new drug legally sold at Albuquerque area smoke shops under the guise of "bath salts" is beginning to emerge as a popular way to get similar highs that cocaine and ecstasy provide.
The drug known as "synthetic cocaine" is believed to be worse than cocaine itself, causing heart attacks, psychotic outbreaks, hallucinations and thoughts of suicide. The bath salts contain a chemical similar to ecstasy known as Mephedrone.
Buyers snort or smoke the "bath salts" sold under numerous brands like Cloud 9, Vanilla Sky, Infinity, and White Diamond.
KOB Eyewitness News 4 visited several smoke shops while undercover and were told by several employees working behind the counters the "bath salts" sell out quickly.
One employee said customers have been coming back for Cloud 9 and often buy several grams at a time. One gram of Cloud 9 is sold for $50 dollars which is similar to the street value of cocaine itself.