NORWICH – With reports of “bath salts” abuse on the rise across the nation – including stories of cannibalistic and extremely violent and unpredictable behavior – the Norwich City Police Department is taking a proactive approach to combat any potential incidents involving the designer drug, which first began making headlines in 2010.

On July 12, the Norwich PD will host a two-hour seminar on what many are calling a growing epidemic across the country, joined by other local law enforcement agencies, mental health care providers and drug and alcohol specialists.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2011, called baths salts “the latest addition to a growing list of items that young people can obtain to get high” and noted the designer drug has “already been linked to an alarming number of ER visits across the country.”

Bath salts, according to the NIDA website, drugabuse.gov, can be inhaled, ingested, snorted or injected. They are packaged and sold under names such as Aura, Bliss, Bloom, Cloud 9, Ivory Wave and Monkey Dust – to name just a few – and are typically found at gas stations, smoke shops, head shops and other places where drug paraphernalia and tobacco products can be purchased.

On Monday, President Barack Obama signed into federal law a ban on the sale of bath salts, synthetic marijuana and other synthetic drugs, according to a press release issued by the office of U.S. Senator Charles Schumer.