A detective with the Cheyenne Police Department is warning people about the dangers of an artificial methamphetamine known as ''bath salts" .

Heber Edwards says the salts are often sold over the counter and says the effects mimic those of crystal methamphetamine, including all of the dangers associated with that drug. But Edwards says the salts carry additional risks that make them even more dangerous.

He says it's almost impossible for users to know what chemicals are really in the salts, increasing the possibility of a reaction to the unknown chemicals. Edwards also says bath salts can be a powerful hallucinogenic, with effects comparable to LSD. This can lead users to harm themselves or others or otherwise engage in dangerous, irrational behavior.

An 18 year old Cheyenne resident was recently arrested for possession of bath salts, the first known such arrest in Cheyenne. Edwards says one problem for law enforcement in combating bath salt use is that because the recipe for making the drug changes constantly it's difficult to write laws that apply to all of the possible combinations of chemicals that are used.

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