Pamela McCarthy, 35, went into cardiac arrest after the struggle with state troopers outside her apartment in Munnsville, New York on Tuesday. She later died in hospital.

 

The shocking photograph, taken by a neighbour, shows McCarthy running towards the child as he clings to his father in fear.

 

Neighbours had called police at 7.45 p.m. to say the woman was punching and choking her son, attacking neighbours and strangling one of her dogs.

 

The woman's boyfriend, Jason Williams, told WSYR he saw her running naked outside their apartment and ran to grab their son, who McCarthy had been beating and trying to strip.

 

In a recent spate of violent attacks across the country, alleged users of 'bath salts' have taken off their clothes, claiming the illegal synthetic drug causes them to burn up.

 

As state troopers responded to the scene, other neighbours called to report she was becoming increasingly violent.

 

Troopers said the woman growled at them as they approached her and claimed she tried to bite one of the officers.

 

When trooper Christopher Budlong tried to arrest McCarthy, she resisted. In an attempt to subdue her, he used his police-issued pepper spray, but to no effect.

 

He then deployed his Taser and was able to handcuff her. After she was taken into custody, she went into apparent cardiac arrest, police said. She was taken to hospital but later died.

 

Williams said she had a history of drug abuse but was stunned to see her behaviour.

 

An autopsy on McCarthy will be carried out on Wednesday to determine the cause of the death.

 

It is just the latest incident involving bath salts, an illegal synthetic drug believed to be behind a recent outbreak of horrifying attacks.

 

Bath salts, a synthetic amphetamine cocktail known as 'the new LSD', was the believed drug of choice for Rudy Eugene, who he chewed off homeless man Ronald Poppo's face in Miami last month.

 

A man in Louisiana, Carl Jacquneaux, was arrested when he bit off a piece of his neighbour's cheek, which a friend blamed on bath salts.

 

And just this week, a man in North Miami allegedly stripped and exposed himself to a three-year-old girl in a park while on the drug.

 

【新闻快讯】

 

综合外国媒体6月14日报道，继美国迈阿密男子鲁迪·尤金因吸食毒品“浴盐”引发“啃脸案”以后，这种新型毒品日前被怀疑再次“作孽”。中年母亲麦卡锡疑似在服用“浴盐”后变得狂躁不安，不仅毒打自己的3岁儿子，还企图撕咬一名闻讯赶来的警察。警方被迫使用电击枪将其制伏，这名母亲最终死在了医院里。

 

自5月26日迈阿密发生“啃脸案”至今，已有至少3起疑似因“浴盐”引发的不寻常案件。其中，在美国路易斯安那州，一名据称吸食了这种毒品的男子将自己邻居的面颊咬掉一块，幸好该男子被及时制止并被警方抓捕。

 

依照一些警方人员和医师的说法，“浴盐”是新型迷幻药，它看上去像洗澡用的普通浴盐，但它们的化学成分不同。近来在一些狂欢聚会、尤其是年轻人聚会中越来越“受欢迎”，而且其普通外观很容易让食用者躲避警方检查。

 

美国毒品管制局已去年认定“浴盐”毒品构成“紧急公共安全威胁”，禁止销售3种用于制作“浴盐”的化学制剂。

 

科普：”浴盐“

 

毒品“浴盐”是一种新型的致幻剂，实际上是一种高效精神类药物——卡西酮(“凯提诺娜”，“Cathinone”)的高纯度结晶。它会直接作用于中枢神经系统，使之兴奋或抑制，连续使用后产生依赖性，并依据对人体的危害程度分为一级和二级——一旦超范围使用，就可视为烈性毒品。

 

其恐怖之处在于，当作为毒品无节制摄入后，会造成短期记忆消失，心率剧增，出汗增加，瞳孔扩散，行为失控，自残，以至于陶醉于肢体暴力中，而自己却没有知觉。曾经有人过瘾时割开自己的脖子却还能行走、跳跃直至死亡。

 

毒品“浴盐”中毒者甚至无法用镇静剂使其恢复状态，只能直接麻醉。服用毒品“浴盐”对心理的影响也长达数月。更为糟糕的是这种毒品“浴盐”药剂架构实在简单。理论上一名理工科大学化工专业的学生可以直接在厨房里搞定它。