Will Pa. Bath Salts Ban Prevent Zombie Attacks?

It's been almost a year since Gov. Tom Corbett signed a bill banning bath salts in Pennsylvania.

Authorities blame the substance for some cases of violent and bizarre behavior - and speculate that bath salts may be the drug that led a Florida man to attack a homeless man on Miami's busy MacArthur Causeway, stripping off his clothes and chewing the victim's face off. 

Police shot and killed Rudy Eugene, 31, after he growled at them, refusing to stop his vicious assault on Ronald Poppo, 65.

Bath salts have been called the "new LSD" and can inspire powerful feelings of invincibility, according to this report about bath salts and the Miami cannibal case.

Officials and the general public need to look past the headlines about "zombies" and "cannibalism" and consider the fact that Florida is one of the worst states in the country when it comes to funding mental health services, says columnist Subhash Kateel.

If the "Causeway Cannibal" story isn't ghoulish enough, a Maryland student has now admitted to eating his roommate's brain and heart. There's been no word yet on a motive in that fatal attack.

Bath salts - which can affect users the same as cocaine, LSD and methamphetamines - have been banned in Pennsylvania since August. The success of the ban depends on whom you ask. Drug treatment officials say bath salts are still pretty easy to get via the Internet and head shops.

Suspected bath salts cases in Pennsylvania include:

• A man who broke into a house because he was being chased by electricity
• A man who set fire to his girlfriend's apartment and attacked firefighters when they arrived
• A man who assaulted a state trooper and didn't seem affected when a stun gun was used on him.

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