Alaska News

Man accused of possessing bath salts indicted in Fairbanks

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports a new Alaska law regulating a recreational drug known as bath salts has seen its first Interior Alaska indictment about a month after passage.

A 21-year-old man, Isaac Siedentop, was arrested June 18, accused of possessing bath salts, marijuana and hashish.

Manufacturers of bath salts, which reportedly simulate the rush of drugs like cocaine, have until lately been able to avoid prosecution under drug laws by labeling the packages with warnings like "not for human consumption." Bath Salts have names like Meow-Meow, Vanilla Sky, Ivory Snow and Bliss. Last month, a bill passed by the Alaska Legislature was signed into law, making it a felony to possess more than 500 milligrams of the bath salt drug and a misdemeanor to possess a smaller amount.

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Crail said Siedentop's case is the first Interior bath salts case. He had about 30 pills when arrested. The state crime lab determined some were bath salts.

Siedentop is also accused of threatening a witness, possessing more than three ounces of marijuana, more than four grams of hashish, and a machine gun.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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