Synthetic marijuana – K2 Spice
Synthetic marijuana K2 Spice – Simply put, synthetic marijuana is a questionable (at best) concoction of man-made psychoactive chemicals sprayed on dried plant material. These psychoactive chemicals are meant to mimic the effects of THC, the active ingredient found in real marijuana. Often referred to as “fake weed”, synthetic marijuana is sold in $30-$50 foil packets and is easy enough to find in gas stations, smoke shops, or convenience stores.
Marketed as a “safe” alternative to marijuana which is a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. These things have successfully avoided regulation by simply labeled “Not Safe for Human Consumption”. Synthetic marijuana is far from safe. They are actually more powerful than the real thing – with severe and unpredictable side effects that are dangerous and sometimes life-threatening.
- Screening Cut-Off and Detection Time
- GC/MS Cut-off Approximate Detection Time
- Urine Drug Test
- 25 ng/ml up to 72 hours after use DEA Drug Class
Synthetic marijuana is classified under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act which lists drugs, substances or chemicals that have a high potential for abuse with no current medical use. Examples of other drugs in this class are:
- Ecstasy
- Heroin
- LSD
- Methaqualone
- Peyote
- K2 Spice Drug Type
Synthetic marijuana is a stimulant. While natural marijuana is classified as a mild hallucinogen-depressant and depending on a person’s response to it, synthetic marijuana without question is an exceptionally powerful stimulant with serious and often severe side effects because of its largely unknown composition of dangerous and unstable chemicals.
Forms and Routes of Administration
Smoking – the herbal incense or potpourri version of synthetic marijuana is smoked by using a pipe or other devices. Many people also roll it into a joint but some sites advise against doing it this way and instead recommend simply using an incense burner. Vaping – for liquid Spice/K2, there are two main techniques of vaping – mouth-to-lung (MTL) and direct-lung-inhale (DLI).
MTL is much the same as smoking a cigarette or sucking on a straw and letting the mouth fill with vapor. This technique makes use of tanks, preferably with high-ohm coils. The slow inhalation vaporizes the e-liquid slower, making the e-juice last longer. DLI is much like taking a hit from a bong or shisha pipe. This technique draws the vapor straight down to the lungs and requires sub-ohm tanks.
K2 Spice Brand Names:
– 100% HIGH Quality – 3M – 500gr – 8-Ball – Ace of Spades – Aer Wave – Atomic Bomb – Aztec – Baby J – BAM – Bang – Barely Legal Express – BC’s Finest – Be’s Finest T.M.D.K. – Big Blue – Bizarro – Black Kush – Black Magic – Black Mamba – Black Widow – Blaze – Bloody Mary – Blue Berry – Blue Magic – Blueberry Blaze – BooM – BUDDHA Exclusive – Bugler – Burnin Man Hypnotic – California Dreams – California K2 – Canja – Chill – Chronic Hypnotic – Clear Breeze – CLOUD 10 – Cloud 9 – Strength Blueberry – Cloud 9 – Cobra King KUSH – Cobra – Comatose Candy – Captain Kava Dabs – Code Black – Cowboy Kush – Crazy Monkey – Crown – Daisy – Damiana – Dancing Monkey DANK – Dead Man Walking –
Dr. Bones Piece of Shit-Bag – Dr. Express – Dr. Feel Good – Dragon – Dragon Eye – Dream On – Dreams – Dyno – Dynomite – D-ZL – Earth Blend – Earthquake – Express Aromatic – Extreme Herbal Incense – Extremely Legal XXX – F.U.B.A.R. – Funky Green Stuff – Funky Monkey – FUSION 3G – FUSION, 1G – G 6 Large Summit – G-13 – Ganja – GENI a New Era – GI JOE – Glass Jar – Gods of Aroma – Gold Platinum – Golden Buddha GREEN EYE – Green Ghost Kush –
Green Giant – Green KUSH – Green Window Groove GUCI Exotic H2O 50 H2 Blonde Hammer Head Happy Shaman Head Trip Hookah Relax Hysteria iAroma Inner Voyage Insanity Intensity Black Jungle Juice Jamaican Spirit Janes Jungle Juice 5g PIN UP Journey Jungle K2 69 K2 K3 K4 Kanabliss King Cobra King John Kings Knocked Out Kong Krp2nite Krunk Max Kush Legally BLIND LIT (Lost in Trance) Lucky Charm Mad Hatter Mad Monkey Mango Skunk Manic
Organic Marley Spice Maya Mayan Mean Pit Bull XXX Mile High MOJO spice Moon Rocks Mr. and Mrs. Marley Mr. Happy Mr. Marley KUSH Mr. Miyagi Mr. Nice Guy Mystery MYSTIC MYSTIQUE NICE DREAMS Nightmare Ober Spice OMEGA On Point No BS Herbal Incense One Love Orange KUSH OZ Original Premium 1GM Passion Sense Peach Bomb Pin-Up Planet Kratom Pleasure
Poppin Cherry Posh Premium Herbal Primo Puff Pulse Pure Fyre Purple Diesel Purple Haze Raptor 50 Rasta Spice Red Dawn Spark 80 Red Dragon Red Eye made by SPARK Red Magic RedXDawn Rewind Rising Sun 1X Roach Serenity Sexy Shisha Skardface Skull Killa Skunk Smurph Soulsense Reserve Sour Apple Diesel Space Monkey SPAZ Spice 99 Spike Spiz Starwest Botanicals Stink Eye Storm Super HASH Super Kush Supernova Ultra Tease The Big Bang The Bomb Thrax Time Traveler Time Wave 2012 URB Incense Urban Kaos Voodoo Child White Rabbit White Widow Wicked Wizard Woodstock XXX Yucatan Fire Zero Gravity Zombie Zombie Killa Zombie Matter Zombie Warning Zombie Wrecked
Uses of Synthetic Marijuana
With a Schedule I classification, synthetic marijuana has no useful medical applications and its only known “uses” are those that recreational users seek to experience. So, what are some of the reasons people use synthetic marijuana? Lack of social skills – many young people feel awkward in social situations and use “chemically-induced courage” to cope. As Spice and/or K2 are readily available, many teens end up using them.
Low self-esteem – people with poor self-image sometimes make do with a few hours of “feel-good” vibes about themselves by taking drugs, and again Spice is so easy to get. Peer pressure – Spice/K2 or synthetic marijuana, in general, is very accessible to adolescents, and the need to be accepted into certain circles is often a compelling enough reason for these kids to try using for the first time and to keep on using afterward. Stress – stress is a common motivation for people to begin using drugs that they think will offer an escape, even if only momentary.
Reasons People Take K2/Spice/Synthetic Marijuana
Street Names For Synthetic Marijuana
- fake pot
- fake weed
- herbal incense
- legal weed
- potpourri
- synthetic cannabis
- synthetic marijuana
Side Effects of Synthetic Marijuana
Synthetic cannabinoids bind to and trigger the same brain receptors that THC does, but while THC is a half/partial agonist only, synthetic cannabinoids are full agonists that produce a full biological response from that receptor. Even with the limited knowledge gained from a few studies on the effects of synthetic cannabinoids on the brain, the scientific community appreciates that because they bind more strongly to the same cell receptors affected by THC, they produce stronger and more unpredictable effects. Added to this is the fact that most synthetic cannabinoid products have unknown chemical compositions that change all the time to avoid regulation. Some of these effects are similar to those produced by natural marijuana:
- altered awareness/perception
- confusion
- delusion/detachment from reality
- elevated mood
- extreme anxiety
- hallucinations
- paranoia
- relaxation
Short-Term Side Effects of Synthetic Marijuana
Many users, mostly adolescents seek out synthetic marijuana (K2/Spice) for the following marijuana-like effects:
- Euphoria
- Relaxation
- Altered perception
The downside, however, is that these much sought-after effects have undesirable side-affects, mostly depending on whatever unknown substance is present in this unregulated drug:
- Aggression
- Hallucinations
- Hypertension
- Increased heart rate
- Panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Severe anxiety
- Vomiting
Long-Term Side Effects of Synthetic Marijuana
Because there are limited studies, the long-term effects are not fully understood, other than what poison center experts report – that synthetic marijuana use can be life-threatening in the long-term.
- Addiction
- Myocardial ischemia
- Renal damage
- Seizures
- Forgetfulness
- Confusion
- Paralysis
K2 Spice Addiction
One sure sign of physical addiction is the presence of associated withdrawal symptoms. Long-term users of Spice/K2 or other synthetic marijuana who try to quit will experience seriously uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms: K2 spice withdrawal symptoms include:
- Depression
- Diarrhea
- Disinterest in usual activities and interests
- Drug cravings
- Excessive sweating
- Fatigue
- Fuzzy thinking
- Headaches
- Insomnia
- Mood changes
- Nausea & vomiting
- Neglect of duties
- Nightmares
- Psychosis (hallucinations, paranoia)
- Suicidal thoughts
- Tremors
History of Synthetic Marijuana
John W. Huffman was an organic chemistry professor at Clemson University back in the 1980s. In 1984, he led a team of researchers and began working on cannabinoids, a class of chemicals found in marijuana. His work was backed by generous grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), and over the next 20 years has developed more than 450 cannabinoids. That can mimic the effects of THC, the principal active component of real marijuana. The ultimate goal of his research was the development of pharmaceutical products that would target the endocannabinoid receptors in the body, particularly CB1 and CB2.
JCH Illegalization and Underground Replacement
While there are other synthetic cannabinoid families (AM-xxx, JWH-xxx, HU-xxx, CP-xx), the JWH family of compounds figured prominently in the blame-game that ensued when synthetic marijuana products began flooding the U.S. market late in 2008, back when there were no DEA or FDA regulations in place.
The German pharmaceutical company THC Pharm reported that in at least 3 versions of the herbal blend Spice (which has been selling as incense around the world since 2002 and was all over Europe by 2004), JWH-018 was found to be one of the active components. Germany then prohibited the use of JWH-018, only to discover some 4 weeks later that the new samples they obtained now contained JWH-073.
Huffman believes that of the entire JWH family of compounds. JWH-018 is the most widely used as it is more potent. Than most and is easy to make. In 2011, testing laboratories began developing LC/MS/MS screening and confirmatory testing for detecting synthetic cannabinoids in response to their increasing prevalence in the American workplace. Employers initially began requesting testing for synthetic cannabinoids due to reasonable suspicion and accidents in the workplace. But by 2012 after the results started showing a trend. The tests were expanded to include pre-employment drug testing and random drug testing and JWH-073 has since replaced by new synthetics.
The exact chemical make-up of synthetic cannabinoids keeps evolving. As more individual compounds are banned by the federal government, underground chemists simply replace them with something else. More and more high profile corporations (mining, oil & gas, railroads, etc.) include synthetic panels in their workplace drug testing programs and it looks like these programs will only strengthen over time, considering that the manufacturers of these synthetic compounds have so far managed to stay 1 step ahead of the law.
RELATED READINGS http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventors/a/Synthetic-Marijuana.htm https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/synthetic-cannabinoids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Huffman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_cannabinoids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JWH-018 https://www.addict-help.com/k2-drug-synthetic-marijuana-spice.asp https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/synthetic-cannabinoids http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/synthetic/synthetic-marijuana-long-term-effects.html https://www.drugs.com/illicit/synthetic-marijuana.html http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/synthetic/stats-and-facts.html