Concern growing over synthetic marijuana
Three U.S. teenagers ended up in the emergency department with altered mental states and seriously elevated heart rates after smoking synthetic marijuana, doctors say in a new report that adds to earlier evidence the popular drug can be dangerous.
One 16-year-old girl who was brought in by her boyfriend refused to move or speak and did not respond when doctors rubbed her chest hard or pinched her. Although she was lying down, her pulse was 105.
She only came back around after getting two kinds of medications - an anti-anxiety drug and one that’s used to treat abnormal movements - and resting for several hours.
While her urine test was positive for THC, one of the active ingredients in natural marijuana, her boyfriend said they had also smoked K2, one of the many names for synthetic marijuana.
The drugs were recently banned in the U.S. and the Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed to classify them permanently as schedule 1 controlled substances - a category that includes heroin and natural marijuana.
Synthetic marijuana has been available since 2006 but has recently gained in popularity. Sold under the names of K2, Spice, Black Mamba, Blaze, and Red X Dawn, it was touted as the legal marijuana and was, therefore, a very attractive alternative to the real thing. But, as the prescription drug epidemic has shown, legal doesn’t mean safe.
In March of 2011, the DEA issued a statement that prohibited the production, possession, and sale of any of the five different chemicals that are used to produce fake marijuana. This makes its byproducts such as K2 and Spice illegal as well. These chemicals will be banned for a temporary period of one year while the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the DEA investigate the potential safety and health issues.
Synthetic marijuana was sold at tobacco shops and gas stations, and was marketed as tea, incense, or herbs. The herbs were sprayed with chemicals that mimic the psychoactive properties of THC. Unlike marijuana, though, fake pot cannot be combined with alcohol without making the person extremely ill. Dawn Dearden, spokeswoman for the DEA also points out that since these synthetic marijuana substitutes are not produced in a controlled environment, their purity and dosage are not regulated or consistent.
The synthetic versions are blends of herbs and spices laced with cannabis-like chemicals, and are sold under a variety of names, including Spice, K2 and Red X Dawn.
The synthetic drugs are believed to be much stronger than regular pot, however, and the products may include other ingredients, too.
“Because it’s unregulated we don’t know exactly what’s in it,” said Dr. Joanna Cohen, one of the authors of the new report, which was published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Street Names of Synthetic Marijuana
There are dozens of products today that are being sold as herbal smoking blends, legal bud, herbal smoke, marijuana alternatives, fake weed or herbal buds. Some of the brand names of the synthetic marijuana products include: Blaze, Blueberry Haze, Dank, Demon Passion Smoke, Genie, Hawaiian Hybrid, K2, Magma, Ninja, Nitro, Ono Budz, Panama Red Ball, Puff, Sativah Herbal Smoke, Skunk, Spice, Ultra Chronic and Voodoo Spice.
The two other cases involved both involved teenage boys.