The Not-So-Nice Spice

[UserTaken1]

Unfortunately, Ice, that seems to be how our government and "The War(Fail) On Drugs" works. So sad people have to use a deadly alternative when there is a perfectly good natural source (marijuana) that has sooo much more to provide for us. I agree with it being legalized. I agree with it being utilized to make hemp paper, hemp clothing, hemp bricks (yes to build houses). And I also agree that just like any other prescription drug. We shouldn't need our state. In my opinion it should be just like any other medicine. But im just one person. And the government needs to wake the F*** up.

[Sudsy]

Wow very interesting reading to a old guy like me.

[luvhandles]

Use of synthetic pot is on the rise, and it poses a serious threat to public health.

By Lloyd Sederer Aug. 5, 2015 | 2:30 p.m. EDT

In the opening weeks of July, 2015, New York
City saw over 600 emergency visits for serious, poisonous reactions to smoking synthetic marijuana – also known as K2, Spice, fake pot/weed, Green Giant, Geeked Up, AK-47 and other colorful names.

April through June of this year in the city saw a tenfold increase from the same period last year.

Synthetic marijuana is made of dried plants (like oregano or basil) sprayed with a variety of chemicals that when smoked bind to the same brain (and other organ) receptors as does cannabis. Also called synthetic cannabinoids, when inhaled they produce immediate and intense mental effects on the user.

These drugs are sold in small groceries and “head shops” and labeled as incense, potpourri and herbal mixtures with prices well below those of actual marijuana. Users are told these drugs are “natural” and that they will not be detected on drug screens.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on July 17
issued a notice proposing new regulations to “strengthen [the] fight against synthetic
marijuana.”

Health advisories to hospitals, clinics, doctors and nurses have stressed the importance of recognizing and controlling the dangerous trend underway.

But the problem is by no means limited to New
York. An article published in the New England
Journal of Medicine on July 9 reported on widespread clusters, from coast to coast, of severe reactions and deaths from these drugs.
Europe has also seen the exploding use of so- called “legal highs” – also called “designer
drugs." Compared to cannabis, these synthetics are far more potent because they can bind as much as 1,000 times more powerfully to brain receptors. In addition, their breakdown molecules (metabolites), which are also active in the brain, linger longer than cannabis. And naturally-grown cannabis has an ingredient called cannabidiol, which actually mitigates the psychotic-like symptoms marijuana can sometimes produce; synthetic marijuana lacks this inherent protective agent.

Controlling the explosion of synthetic marijuana abuse will need to take both supply-side and demand-side interventions.

On the supply side, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has designated a growing number of the chemicals found in synthetic marijuana as Schedule I controlled substances; this makes them illegal to possess, sell or buy.
But makers of the drug are continually changing its makeup to elude law enforcement. And while U.S. labs are making synthetic marijuana, New York state health officials say the drug is also imported in significant amounts from China and Russia.

A state can employ criminal and civil financial
penalties as well as short jail sentences for
possession, distribution or sale of those drugs
that have been prohibited. City, state and other
law enforcement personnel can also confiscate substances that have the already designated illegal chemicals – but not the new ones entering the market until they too are identified and prohibited.

On the demand side, we are seeing the use of
synthetic marijuana especially among vulnerable individuals and groups. These include people with drug use disorders, with mental illnesses, and those living in group homes and shelters.

Poverty fosters the use of these drugs because they are cheaper than marijuana and alcohol.

($5 can buy a bag that can be rolled into a
number of cigarettes/joints.)

Demand reduction is therefore difficult. But peers, people with drug and mental
disorders who are into their own recovery,
warning those at risk to smoke “fake pot,” are
apt to be more effective than health or mental
health professionals.

We know, as well, from long experience with demand reduction for tobacco that persistent, highly negative advertising (exposure) is needed to curtail use.

The more upsetting the material, the more
effective it is. Thus, we will have to employ
frightening, even disgusting, images and stories of the consequences of synthetic marijuana to discourage its use.

The ready access to these inexpensive drugs
with their powerful toxicities, even capacity to
kill, is a critical public health problem that is
escalating across the U.S. The responses
underway, which leverage demand- and supply- side controls, can work but take time, collective effort and widespread application.

In the meantime, if you suspect use among people you love, work with, or have contact with in your community, don’t hesitate to share information about the dangers of synthetic marijuana and how to get help from local and state drug treatment programs.


***Opinion***

This is a prime example of why our good ole government should wake up and smell the coffee! They will never stop the use of any drug, but by stopping the use of a natural plant, they are really  promoting the use of chemicals that bypass all their   "mandatory" drug tests.
Weed is so much more than just a "high".

What exactly is spice?

[JJ Abrams]

I've heard reports of everything from seizures and vomiting to death.
This stuff poses a serious hazard to your health as a cheap alternative to an already inexpensive drug.
Just my take on it.

[kenzyme]

I've heard reports of everything from seizures and vomiting to death.
This stuff poses a serious hazard to your health as a cheap alternative to an already inexpensive drug.
Just my take on it.

Are you talking about synthetic's? If so i can I would agree. A good edible at the proper dosage Is alot better than my experience with synths

[radishxl]

Synthetics are scary. In my community a certain bar was being faked, and it came back that it was a synthetic noid, PX-1 in them. Lots of folks were hospitalized from that. This stuff is really much more harmful than the natural substance, it baffles my mind as to why we don't just legalize it so folks don't have to run around searching for legal alternatives that'll just wind up with them being hospitalized.

[anxiety_sucks]

terrible stuff and UK prisons are awash with it, as not noticeable in tests apparently, but as an MJ smoker myself id rather have nothing than that stuff.

[BoomerB]

What exactly is spice?
Spice is what they mean when u read about Synthetic Marijuana. it's also known as K2, the first prominent brand name.

The "spice" part derives from the fact that the plant base is a mix of herbs such as sage, catnip, marshmallow leaf, and other benign items.

What it really is, is these herbs sprayed down with RC cannabinoids (the original being JWH-008, now illegal but replaced by ten more) so you catch a buzz. But the guys spraying in down aren't pros, they make bathtub pill pressers look the the head chemist a Roche. So you get some spots with a light coating, you get some spots that are super concentrated.

This is actually what the "Florida face eater" was on despite the widely reported story that it was bath salts ( the cocaine/speed equivalent to spice).

Its big in the military and among parolees or others subject to drug screens.

Nasty stuff i've heard.

[luvhandles]

Use of synthetic pot is on the rise, and it poses a serious threat to public health.

By Lloyd Sederer Aug. 5, 2015 | 2:30 p.m. EDT

In the opening weeks of July, 2015, New York
City saw over 600 emergency visits for serious, poisonous reactions to smoking synthetic marijuana – also known as K2, Spice, fake pot/weed, Green Giant, Geeked Up, AK-47 and other colorful names.

April through June of this year in the city saw a tenfold increase from the same period last year.

Synthetic marijuana is made of dried plants (like oregano or basil) sprayed with a variety of chemicals that when smoked bind to the same brain (and other organ) receptors as does cannabis. Also called synthetic cannabinoids, when inhaled they produce immediate and intense mental effects on the user.

These drugs are sold in small groceries and “head shops” and labeled as incense, potpourri and herbal mixtures with prices well below those of actual marijuana. Users are told these drugs are “natural” and that they will not be detected on drug screens.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on July 17
issued a notice proposing new regulations to “strengthen [the] fight against synthetic
marijuana.”

Health advisories to hospitals, clinics, doctors and nurses have stressed the importance of recognizing and controlling the dangerous trend underway.

But the problem is by no means limited to New
York. An article published in the New England
Journal of Medicine on July 9 reported on widespread clusters, from coast to coast, of severe reactions and deaths from these drugs.
Europe has also seen the exploding use of so- called “legal highs” – also called “designer
drugs." Compared to cannabis, these synthetics are far more potent because they can bind as much as 1,000 times more powerfully to brain receptors. In addition, their breakdown molecules (metabolites), which are also active in the brain, linger longer than cannabis. And naturally-grown cannabis has an ingredient called cannabidiol, which actually mitigates the psychotic-like symptoms marijuana can sometimes produce; synthetic marijuana lacks this inherent protective agent.

Controlling the explosion of synthetic marijuana abuse will need to take both supply-side and demand-side interventions.

On the supply side, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has designated a growing number of the chemicals found in synthetic marijuana as Schedule I controlled substances; this makes them illegal to possess, sell or buy.
But makers of the drug are continually changing its makeup to elude law enforcement. And while U.S. labs are making synthetic marijuana, New York state health officials say the drug is also imported in significant amounts from China and Russia.

A state can employ criminal and civil financial
penalties as well as short jail sentences for
possession, distribution or sale of those drugs
that have been prohibited. City, state and other
law enforcement personnel can also confiscate substances that have the already designated illegal chemicals – but not the new ones entering the market until they too are identified and prohibited.

On the demand side, we are seeing the use of
synthetic marijuana especially among vulnerable individuals and groups. These include people with drug use disorders, with mental illnesses, and those living in group homes and shelters.

Poverty fosters the use of these drugs because they are cheaper than marijuana and alcohol.

($5 can buy a bag that can be rolled into a
number of cigarettes/joints.)

Demand reduction is therefore difficult. But peers, people with drug and mental
disorders who are into their own recovery,
warning those at risk to smoke “fake pot,” are
apt to be more effective than health or mental
health professionals.

We know, as well, from long experience with demand reduction for tobacco that persistent, highly negative advertising (exposure) is needed to curtail use.

The more upsetting the material, the more
effective it is. Thus, we will have to employ
frightening, even disgusting, images and stories of the consequences of synthetic marijuana to discourage its use.

The ready access to these inexpensive drugs
with their powerful toxicities, even capacity to
kill, is a critical public health problem that is
escalating across the U.S. The responses
underway, which leverage demand- and supply- side controls, can work but take time, collective effort and widespread application.

In the meantime, if you suspect use among people you love, work with, or have contact with in your community, don’t hesitate to share information about the dangers of synthetic marijuana and how to get help from local and state drug treatment programs.


***Opinion***

This is a prime example of why our good ole government should wake up and smell the coffee! They will never stop the use of any drug, but by stopping the use of a natural plant, they are really  promoting the use of chemicals that bypass all their   "mandatory" drug tests.
Weed is so much more than just a "high".

I have heard serious consequence with this spice actually had someone that tried it woke up on the kitchen floor the next morning and this guy was a large framed male..

[roxydan]

Smokd this rubbish for a good 9 months, never in my life have i been so fiendish or crazy for something. It ruined so many of my friends and familly its not funny.