> reporter: last october john moody of st. joseph, missouri got the call no father should ever get. his son jared had shot himself. Get Live News Updates Every Minute from vimarsana.com Curated from 23000 News Agencies.">
> reporter: last october john moody of st. joseph, missouri got the call no father should ever get. his son jared had shot himself. Get Live News Updates Every Minute from vimarsana.com Curated from 23000 News Agencies." property="og:description">
> reporter: last october john moody of st. joseph, missouri got the call no father should ever get. his son jared had shot himself. Get Live News Updates Every Minute from vimarsana.com Curated from 23000 News Agencies.">
a white powdery substance that is packaged as bath salts is now illegal in new york, but as you might guess, the chemical is not the kind you use for a relaxing soak in the bathtub. bath salts is the street name of a popular designer drug. the small inexpensive packets of powder are meant to be snorted to produce a hallucinogenic high. until now the drug has been easy to buy sold on the internet or in convenience stores. the new ban takes effect immediately. and tonight "dateline" nbc goes undercover to explore the dangers of that deadly drug. "dateline" nbc's chris hansen has more on the growing use of bath salts in what doctors are calling a brand new epidemic. >> reporter: last october john moody of st. joseph, missouri got the call no father should ever get. his son jared had shot himself.