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Medical experts concerned over surge in overdoses, deaths from eutylone -- aka ‘bath salts’ -- in Florida

7 overdose cases reported in the last 12 months in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Medical Examiner’s Office in Jacksonville said it has seen seven cases of overdoses from eutylone in the last 12 months.

That might not seem like a lot, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns Florida has the most cases in the country and eutylone is a drug that is highly addictive and deadly.

On the street, the drug has many names: bath salts, bloom, cloud nine, flakka, scar face, vanilla sky and white lightning.

Dr. Marcus De Carvalho, a Board-Certified Medical Doctor Psychiatrist who helps people work through addiction, said young adults think bath salts are a weaker drug than MDMA, ecstasy or amphetamines -- and that’s not true.

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“Since they believe it is a weaker MDMA and they have maybe used them in the past, they tend to take more of it,” De Carvalho said.

De Carvalho said that is why there has been a surge in overdoses and deaths.

The CDC warned that most people dying from eutylone overdoses are 25 to 34 years old, followed by those aged 35 to 44 years old.

The Medical Examiner’s Office District 4 covers Duval, Clay and Nassau counties and supports two other counties as well.

Between August 2021 and July 2022, there have been seven cases in which eutylone was present in someone who died from an overdose.

Opioid overdoses have been combatted with products like Narcan to reverse them. However, if a person overdoses from eutylone, or bath salts, they can not be revived with Narcan.

“I think, eventually, here in Jacksonville, what we are going to see is a surge in deaths with this,” De Carvalho said.

He warns the street drug, like any other, is being made any and everywhere. No one knows the amount of bath salts that a person is using, no one knows what else is in the drug, and it can kill you the first time you use it.

If you are a parent, the doctor encourages you to talk to your children immediately and help them understand the risks.


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