Alan Gibson is a recovering "bath salts" drug addict and speaking out about his experience to make people aware of the dangers the drug poses.

He said the drug appealed to him because it is both affordable and legal.

Sellers of the drug have avoided the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's ban on the drug's most common ingredients by altering the chemicals so they no longer resemble those banned.

Many have even purposely mislabeled the drug to avoid identification.

Because it was easily accessible, Gibson said he underestimated the drug.

"In the beginning there didn't seem like there was any consequence," Gibson said. "But once you start, it seems like it consumes you."

He said he was not new to the drug scene when he first began experimenting with bath salts.

"I felt like I was about to die," Gibson said as he explained his experiences while high on the drug. "You experience a lot of drug-induced psychosis.  Like extreme forms of paranoia, imagining things that aren't really happening."

Gibson said the drug was unlike anything he had dealt with previously.

"It caused me to see things that weren't there and my friends to be concerned about me," he said. "It changed me into a person that I'm not and that I never have been."

He said he has also known other people who have suffered because of the drug.

"I had a friend that I really believe died from this," Gibson said. "I believe it with my heart because it drove him to the point of suicide."

Suicidal tendencies, along with aggression and hallucinations, are just a few side effects of the drug.

Gibson said once he hit rock bottom, he knew it was time to get help and begin the road to recovery.

"It's a hard thing to do because false pride gets in the way," Gibson said. "And false pride almost killed me."