The first hit, about a gram and a half, is painfully snorted through one nostril. About 10 to 15 minutes later, eyes dilate, the heart races, muscles tense, teeth clench and everything is euphoric.

In control and feeling enhanced, Tyler, who asked to use only his first name, received his first hit of bath salts from a friend at a rave dance party.

“It’s like you slammed 12 pots of coffee,” Tyler said. “The high lasted 12 to 13 hours. It definitely gives you that up and that continuous up to where it keeps you up. My senses were very enhanced.”

The hazardous drug cleverly disguised by the street name of “bath salts” is a highly hallucinogenic drug, said Jenny Donham, education teacher at Watkins Memorial Health Center.

Bath salts are not intended to actually be something you put in your tub. The powder substance is packaged under the name “bath salts” to sidestep drug laws.

The labeling on the package warns, “Not for human consumption,” but according to American Association of Poison Control Center people are snorting and injecting bath salts. The University of Kansas Hospital Poison Control Center reported it received two emergency calls last week after bath salts were abused. The control center had 17 calls since this January, according to the KU Poison Control Center.

To address the bath salt issue, Kansas lawmakers banned the sale and use of the basic elements in the bath salts, as well as a plethora of chemicals used to prevent manufacturers from simply transitioning compounds, said Tom Sloan (R-Lawrence).

As of Friday, it will be illegal in Kansas to sell or buy bath salts. If you are buying them online and you are found, you will be convicted, Sloan said.

Student Conduct Officer Nicholas Kehrwald said the current alcohol and drug policies established for campus will apply to bath salts.

Donham said she has not been made aware of any students coming into Watkins with complications from bath salts, and if they did, she will send them to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Donham said that bath salts are stimulants and similar to amphetamines such as meth and crack. She said symptoms included stimulation, rapid heartbeat and hallucinations.

“It goes into your system immediately,” Donham said. “I’m unsure how long the substance stays in your body; however, we have seen some information that shows that even with a first time use the effects can be in the body up to several days after using the substance. Not enough is known about it, it’s very dangerous to mess around or take in a substance that not enough is known about and is not intended for human consumption.”

Tyler said he doesn’t plan to use bath salts again. He said that there is not enough known about the drug and the risk for him is too high.