Despite some high profile cases and an increasing awareness, or fear, of a new street drug called 'bath salts', it doesn't appear to be an issue in District 69.
Corporal Jessie Foreman with the Oceanside RCMP said they are aware of it and keeping an eye out, but he doesn't know of any being found here.
But it is not far off. The first ever seizure of the drug in B.C. took place in Nanaimo last weekend when RCMP did a routine check of a man sleeping in a truck on the highway shoulder and found it among several kilograms of marijuana, GHB, LSD, ecstasy, methamphetamine, cocaine and $30,000 cash.
Nanaimo RCMP Const. Sherry Wade told CBC, “It's a synthetic drug, a stimulant, similar to cocaine. And there's lots of stories, particularly in the States, with people just really going insane.”
The new drug came to wide attention earlier this year when a man found chewing the face of another man in Miami was believed to be on the drug — which turned out not to be true.
This week the federal government confirmed their plan to make the main ingredient — methylenedioxypyrovalerone, known as MDPV — illegal.
Along with things like heroin and cocaine it will be listed as a "schedule one" substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Alternative ingredients methylone and mephedrone are both already illegal.
Foreman said whenever there is a new drug on the streets, police learn what to look for in terms of the drug and the symptoms of someone taking it.