Bath Salts

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers are making another attempt to crackdown on synthetic drugs.  A new law went into effect on Sunday that bans the sales of all synthetic marijuana and substances marketed as bath salts. The synthetic marijuana drug known simply as K-2 has been illegal since last year.  The designers of the drug simply changed the chemical formula, however, and put out another substance that was pretty much the same but not covered by the previous law. The new law changes the wording of the previous law that banned K-2 and expands it to cover "Any Compound Containing Synthetic Cannabinoids," which are what gives users of the drug a marijuana-like sense of euphoria.  The law also includes products marketed as bath salts that police say are comparable to synthetic cocaine or methamphetamine.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- We learned this week that a man who was electrically shocked during an arrest by Greene County sheriff's deputies in July died from the effects of synthetic drugs that were marketed as bath salts or plant food.   Bath salts and plant food have been banned in Missouri since the end of August, but now there's also an emergency nationwide ban.  Joshua Nossoughi died in July before the substance was banned.  His friend, Nate, is glad the substance is now illegal, after he used it himself and lost a friend.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- In the year since Missouri banned K2, a new round of synthetic drugs has shown up in stores across the Ozarks.  Lawmakers say the first ban was too specific, and now a bill targeting "bath salts" and similar drugs is waiting for the governor's signature.  "I had heard about K2, and I thought they had banned it.  I had thought nothing else about it until it happened to me," said Charlie Fagan. Fagan's tragedy happened last Thursday, at the hands of one of the new synthetic drugs that have sprung up after last year's ban of K2.  Fagan's son, Seth, smoked a drug called "Dead Man Walking," which is sold as incense and had a reaction resulting in Seth biting off a third of his own tongue.

An unusual request in Phillipsburg, a 24-year-old woman asked the Laclede County sheriff's office to arrest her. Last week, Richelle Vanluven handed officers her purse, which was full of meth, bath salts and other opiates and told them that she would overdose on the drugs if she wasn't in jail. They granted her wish.  Now Vanluven faces numerous drug charges and is being held on a $25,000 bond.

LEBANON, Mo. -- A nationwide crackdown on synthetic drugs targets some businesses here in the Ozarks.  It comes just weeks after a federal crackdown began on synthetic drugs like bath salts. Officers raided at least two stores in Lebanon: Jefferson Package and Lucky's Novelties. Authorities confirm they were looking for synthetic drugs like bath salts and other synthetic copycat narcotics, which are now illegal.  Police, Laclede County sheriff's deputies, and DEA agents told us synthetic drugs of some sort were found at Lucky's.  We're told agents sent in undercover agents who were able to purchase these drugs.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A spate of pedestrians being hit and killed on streets and highways in the city seems to be a disturbing trend.  Vehicles have hit and killed six pedestrians in the Springfield area since Jan. 1, and four of those happened in the past month. The latest car-pedestrian crash was early Saturday morning.  It killed Justin Clark, 17, a soon-to-be senior at Glendale High School.  He was hit on Walnut Lawn Street just west of Campbell Avenue. "He was a really good kid.  He had a great heart,” said Robert Sebastian, a friend of Clark.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- Raids like those at Luckie's Novelties and Jefferson Package Liquor on Wednesday in Lebanon happened all over the U.S. on Wednesday.  Operation Log Jam involved 90 cities and 265 warrants, including some in the Ozarks. "We know they're not buying this stuff for what the packages say.  They're buying it to get high," says Detective Tim Early of the Lebanon Police Department. Known as K2, incense, or bath salts under a slew of different names, officers have been struggling to keep up with the growing problem.  "Usually when we hear somebody's naked in the streets, it's the first thing law enforcement thinks is bath salts.  Truly delirium; they're completely set aside from reality.  They don't know what's going on, where they're at, who they are," said Cpl. Matt Brown, a spokesman for the Springfield Police Department.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. - A 20-year-old man put up a fight on Friday morning when a team of four law enforcement officers went to his home near Dixon to arrest him.  Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King says officers had to use an electric stun gun on Devon Cardin, who appeared to be high on a mind-altering drug such as bath salts. The officers went to Cardin's home at 17430 Cliff Road about 7:30 a.m. Friday because he had a warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of receiving stolen property.  This was the second time officers tried to arrest him; the first time, he fled into the woods behind his home.  The team included two sheriff's deputies and two state troopers.  King says the fight with Cardin caused a minor wound on the arm of one trooper.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. - A 20-year-old man who fought law enforcement when they arrived at his Dixon home June 8 faces a felony charge of resisting and interfering with an arrest. Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King says officers had to use an electric stun gun on Devon Cardin, who appeared to be high on a mind-altering drug such as bath salts. The officers went to Cardin's home at 17430 Cliff Road about 7:30 a.m. June 8 because he had a warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of receiving stolen property.  This was the second time officers tried to arrest him; the first time, he fled into the woods behind his home.  The team included two sheriff's deputies and two state troopers.  King says the fight with Cardin caused a minor wound on the arm of one trooper.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo - When it comes to one particular illegal drug, what's old is becoming new again. “In the 70s it was a big drug.  In the 80s it wasn't so big.  But it's making a comeback,” said Officer David Snider of the Springfield Police Department. Heroin is creating renewed concerns.  Police say they are seeing more use of the drug, along with heroin-related crimes. One example, police say, happened last week in west Springfield. Jarrod Sirois was charged with murdering his roommate, Robert Pugh, at a home on W. Latoka St. Sirois claims he beat Pugh in order to steal his heroin.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- Raids like those at Luckie's Novelties and Jefferson Package Liquor on Wednesday in Lebanon happened all over the U.S. on Wednesday.  Operation Log Jam involved 90 cities and 265 warrants, including some in the Ozarks. "We know they're not buying this stuff for what the packages say.  They're buying it to get high," says Detective Tim Early of the Lebanon Police Department. Known as K2, incense, or bath salts under a slew of different names, officers have been struggling to keep up with the growing problem.  "Usually when we hear somebody's naked in the streets, it's the first thing law enforcement thinks is bath salts.  Truly delirium; they're completely set aside from reality.  They don't know what's going on, where they're at, who they are," said Cpl. Matt Brown, a spokesman for the Springfield Police Department.

LEBANON, Mo. -- A nationwide crackdown on synthetic drugs targets some businesses here in the Ozarks.  It comes just weeks after a federal crackdown began on synthetic drugs like bath salts. Officers raided at least two stores in Lebanon: Jefferson Package and Lucky's Novelties. Authorities confirm they were looking for synthetic drugs like bath salts and other synthetic copycat narcotics, which are now illegal.  Police, Laclede County sheriff's deputies, and DEA agents told us synthetic drugs of some sort were found at Lucky's.  We're told agents sent in undercover agents who were able to purchase these drugs.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo - When it comes to one particular illegal drug, what's old is becoming new again. “In the 70s it was a big drug.  In the 80s it wasn't so big.  But it's making a comeback,” said Officer David Snider of the Springfield Police Department. Heroin is creating renewed concerns.  Police say they are seeing more use of the drug, along with heroin-related crimes. One example, police say, happened last week in west Springfield. Jarrod Sirois was charged with murdering his roommate, Robert Pugh, at a home on W. Latoka St. Sirois claims he beat Pugh in order to steal his heroin.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. - A 20-year-old man who fought law enforcement when they arrived at his Dixon home June 8 faces a felony charge of resisting and interfering with an arrest. Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King says officers had to use an electric stun gun on Devon Cardin, who appeared to be high on a mind-altering drug such as bath salts. The officers went to Cardin's home at 17430 Cliff Road about 7:30 a.m. June 8 because he had a warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of receiving stolen property.  This was the second time officers tried to arrest him; the first time, he fled into the woods behind his home.  The team included two sheriff's deputies and two state troopers.  King says the fight with Cardin caused a minor wound on the arm of one trooper.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. - A 20-year-old man put up a fight on Friday morning when a team of four law enforcement officers went to his home near Dixon to arrest him.  Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King says officers had to use an electric stun gun on Devon Cardin, who appeared to be high on a mind-altering drug such as bath salts. The officers went to Cardin's home at 17430 Cliff Road about 7:30 a.m. Friday because he had a warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of receiving stolen property.  This was the second time officers tried to arrest him; the first time, he fled into the woods behind his home.  The team included two sheriff's deputies and two state troopers.  King says the fight with Cardin caused a minor wound on the arm of one trooper.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A spate of pedestrians being hit and killed on streets and highways in the city seems to be a disturbing trend.  Vehicles have hit and killed six pedestrians in the Springfield area since Jan. 1, and four of those happened in the past month. The latest car-pedestrian crash was early Saturday morning.  It killed Justin Clark, 17, a soon-to-be senior at Glendale High School.  He was hit on Walnut Lawn Street just west of Campbell Avenue. "He was a really good kid.  He had a great heart,” said Robert Sebastian, a friend of Clark.

An unusual request in Phillipsburg, a 24-year-old woman asked the Laclede County sheriff's office to arrest her. Last week, Richelle Vanluven handed officers her purse, which was full of meth, bath salts and other opiates and told them that she would overdose on the drugs if she wasn't in jail. They granted her wish.  Now Vanluven faces numerous drug charges and is being held on a $25,000 bond.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- We learned this week that a man who was electrically shocked during an arrest by Greene County sheriff's deputies in July died from the effects of synthetic drugs that were marketed as bath salts or plant food.   Bath salts and plant food have been banned in Missouri since the end of August, but now there's also an emergency nationwide ban.  Joshua Nossoughi died in July before the substance was banned.  His friend, Nate, is glad the substance is now illegal, after he used it himself and lost a friend.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers are making another attempt to crackdown on synthetic drugs.  A new law went into effect on Sunday that bans the sales of all synthetic marijuana and substances marketed as bath salts. The synthetic marijuana drug known simply as K-2 has been illegal since last year.  The designers of the drug simply changed the chemical formula, however, and put out another substance that was pretty much the same but not covered by the previous law. The new law changes the wording of the previous law that banned K-2 and expands it to cover "Any Compound Containing Synthetic Cannabinoids," which are what gives users of the drug a marijuana-like sense of euphoria.  The law also includes products marketed as bath salts that police say are comparable to synthetic cocaine or methamphetamine.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- In the year since Missouri banned K2, a new round of synthetic drugs has shown up in stores across the Ozarks.  Lawmakers say the first ban was too specific, and now a bill targeting "bath salts" and similar drugs is waiting for the governor's signature.  "I had heard about K2, and I thought they had banned it.  I had thought nothing else about it until it happened to me," said Charlie Fagan. Fagan's tragedy happened last Thursday, at the hands of one of the new synthetic drugs that have sprung up after last year's ban of K2.  Fagan's son, Seth, smoked a drug called "Dead Man Walking," which is sold as incense and had a reaction resulting in Seth biting off a third of his own tongue.