Florence business cleans up after bath salt abuse

At the beginning of the 2011, it didn’t seem too many people were familiar with bath salts, nor their dangerous consequences

Now, it is hard to find a person who hasn’t at least heard of the drugs that cause hallucinations and are suspected in at least one death and multiple hospitalizations throughout the Pee Dee.

But the effects of bath salts can be much more widespread.

“The people who take the bath salts do so much damage to people property, to their homes, their homes, their vehicles,” Bill Flynn, president of Complete Scene Intervention, Inc. (CSI), said.

CSI specializes in crime and trauma scene clean up and Flynn has seen the destruction bath salts can leave behind.

The most traumatic scene Flynn and his crew have dealt linked to bath salts came when a Darlington County man suspected of being on the drugs went into a violent rage near his home.

When CSI arrived found a disturbing sight.

Blood, everything from a few drops to large smears on windows, siding and vehicles of three homes over roughly an acre that took roughly 36 man hours to clean.

“A lot of aftermath,” Flynn said.

That aftermath concerns Flynn, who said he worries about instances where those with health conditions who take the bath salts could expose the public to disease.

“There’s always the possibility of a blood born pathogen that can be spread through contact,” Flynn said when asked what dangers can be associated with cases when large amounts of blood are lost in an open area.

“It becomes about the community, the neighbors, the pets, your kids, your family.”

Community concern is prompting municipalities and counties in the Pee Dee to take action.

Last week two municipalities – Florence and McColl – officially adopted ordinances making it illegal to sell, possess or take bath salts within city limits.

A third municipality, Bennettsville, held first reading on its own ordinance and will hold a second reading and adoption at next month’s meting.

Bennettsville is one of 13 cities poised to ban bath salts within the next month.

Chesterfield is the only county in the Pee Dee to have a ban on the books, while Marlboro will hold second reading on its ban in October.

Darlington, Dillon, Florence and Marion counties do not have ordinances in place but all have discussed taking action and some have engaged in talks with members of the state delegation on passing a state-wide ban.

After seeing what happens to those on bath salts, Flynn said the dangers are real and making the salts illegal should be a top priority.

“Even as a business owner -- and this is what we do -- I feel that bath salts are detrimental to our community and the United States,” Flynn said.

Plenty of people share that sentiment.

In October, the Drug Enforcement Administration will begin enforcing a year-long ban outlawing the possession and sale of three synthetic stimulants marketed as bath salts.

According to CBS News and reports from the Associated Press, at least 27 states have already banned bath salts and Gov. Nikki Haley has said she anticipates the state legislature will consider its own ban in January.

In the mean time, some members of law enforcement say local bans carrying civil penalties will allow officers the opportunity to work on keeping the drugs out of the hands of offenders.

The city of Florence’s ban passed last week carries what some would call minor penalties for a single in fraction, but Police Chief Anson Shells said it opens up the door for cases to be prosecuted under the DEA ban when it comes into effect and said the city ordinance is harsher than some people realize.

"It's a $25 for any violation and if an officer does stop a person with bath salts, that's what they would get. The same fine would be levied against any store that would be selling them. But the thing about the ordinance that gives the ordinance teeth, is that a store can lose its business license if they are caught selling it after a third offense," Shells said.

Still, city attorney Jim Peterson acknowledged that the ban is essentially a stop-gap measure until the state takes action.  

"Without a state law in place, and of course with the state legislature out of session and not back in session until January, our choices were to just do nothing and sit and wait and see or try to do something that at least gave us some mechanism to use to try to regulate its use," Peterson said.

Patricia Burkett contributed to this report.