JOHNSONVILLE SC — The Town of Andrews enacted an emergency ordinance to ban the sale of bath salts in town limits and the S.C. General Assembly is considering a law to stop its sale and distribution.

Meanwhile, Johnsonville residents also want to ban the product from their area.

At least 10 residents held a protest Saturday at a local business believed to be selling the designer drug.

The protesters gathered Saturday near the West End convenience store to wave signs and ask people to stop the use and sale of bath salts.

Store owner Dipt Patel, however, said the store no longer has the product and has “sent it all back” to the vendor.

She also said the store spent $5,000 and is now “stuck” paying for the product they no longer sell.

Patel told protest organizer Edie Cain the store hasn’t had bath salts for three weeks.

“I don’t believe you,” Cain said.

“We don’t have it because people were going crazy,” Patel said.

Cain said a family member of one of her employees had to be rushed to the hospital for treatment, after ingesting bath salts combined with marijuana.

“I got a call saying her son was flipping out and going crazy,” she said. “He had left and ran in IGA and said he was dying. His mother put him in the car and he tried to jump out the window of her car while going down the road.”

She said the test for drugs turned up negative, but the family suspected he was taking PCP.

They soon learned it was bath salts that caused his symptoms.

“A show on “20-20” was about bath salts and they started saying the symptoms and side effects,” she said. “I said, ‘Oh my gosh, it sounds like bath salts.’ That’s how we started digging into it.”

Cain has posted signs in and around Johnsonville.

“Nobody else wants to protest because they are afraid we are going to sue them,”

Cain said. “But talking does not bring change, action does.”

Others who joined Saturday’s protest said they also have friends and relatives impacted by the drug.

“A lot of school teachers have been going on the Internet to know what to look out for,” said protester Legrand Mobley.

“As parent, it’s our job to protect our children,” said Tammie Goude, who has seen family members battle drug addiction. “If you can’t take a stand, you don’t love your children.”

Brad Richardson, a member of the Republican Party in Florence County, said efforts are being taken to stop the sale of the drug.

“Bath salts is a new drug and 80 percent of the people don’t know about it,” he said. “With this type of drug, it’s as easy to get as gas or cigarettes. I have expressed concern to our local legislative delegation and hope something will come to fruition.”

Georgetown County efforts

Others who live in Georgetown County said they plan to attend the September meeting of Georgetown County Council to ask for a ban of the product.

The momentum to try to have bath salts taken off the shelves at local convenience stores is building in several counties, as residents become frustrated by the availability of the designer drug.

There are no government regulations on the product, which is sometimes marketed as a beauty aid, plant food or insect repellent.

The drug, which is being sold in some Georgetown County convenience stores, has caused at least one local person to be hospitalized, according to a family member who talked to the Georgetown Times.

Others who work for emergency services in nearby counties said they are receiving numerous calls for help from people suffering side effects from the drug.

A Facebook page, Georgetown County Against Bath Salts, has been formed and a petition is being circulated to stop the sale and possession of the drug in Georgetown County.

By Kelly Marshall Fuller

Kfuller@gtowntimes.com