Photo by Samer Farha

The drug sensation that’s been sweeping the nation’s crime headlines is creeping into the D.C. area, according to local law enforcement. In the past year, authorities in Maryland and Virginia have taken an increasing number of calls related to bath salts, the chemical concoction that has been blamed in a number of freakish crimes around the country in recent months.

In the greater Washington area, WTOP reports that bath salt-related incidents are on the rise, especially in rural Virginia. In the Shenandoah Valley, several hospitals report treating patients for bath salt overdoses, and one man in Harrisonburg died after injecting the substance.

Around the country, bath salt use has been linked to multiple bizarre cases, most famously an incident last month in Miami in which police responded to a naked man eating a homeless man’s face. And just yesterday, a mother in Upstate New York who was allegedly high on bath salts died after police stunned her with a Taser after she attacked her three-year-old son. (In fact, Gothamist has plenty of bath salts coverage.)

Reports of bath salt use are also up in Maryland, according to WTOP, with the Maryland Poison Control Center receiving 75 calls last year related to the drug.

“Bath salts” is a popular terminology for substances containing the chemical compound methylenedioxypyrovalerone, which can have psychotropic and stimulating effects when ingested. Several states, including Maryland and Virginia, have banned the sale of products containing the compound.

In D.C., Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) introduced legislation last December banning bath salts, though it has not yet been voted on. However, a ban on synthetic marijuana, proposed by then-Chairman Kwame Brown, was adopted as part of the District’s fiscal 2013 budget.