This Valley neighbor learned his lesson the hard way with bath salts. He did not want WHSV to use his name, so for our purposes we are going to call him Sam.
"One choice, it only takes one choice,” said Sam. “One time, in life, one bad mistake that can affect your whole future."
Bath salts could be a very dangerous mistake to make. Sam's friend, Mike Powell had a nervous breakdown, a seizure, a heart attack and a stroke all within a year. Sam thinks his own side effects were enough.
"Unfortunately for myself, it was about a week or so, where I was very scared. I would panic a little bit. I was stuttering at the mouth. My frontal lobe didn't seem to be there. My clarity wasn't there."
Mike spent time in drug rehabilitation where he ran into a lot of bath salts users.
"There were people coming in in straight jackets, being put in isolation. They ended up in Western State because their minds did not come back," said Mike.
Sam and Mike said at least they are still alive because some of their friends were not as lucky.
"The traumatic experience alone was enough,” said Sam. “It really was. And then at the same time, hearing a couple of my friends drop, has been a reality check as well."
They both are working hard to stay clean and their advice is to stay away from drugs completely.
"There's the term, 'Do a drug, but don't let the drug do you.' Probably just best to stay clear of it all."
Mike said he was addicted to the drug the first time he used.
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