Millions around the world are dying and others ending up with life threatening ailments.
Some nicknames like Black mamba, K2, Spice, Baba or Colorado aka Colos as it is fondly referred to in Nigeria, are just some of the names used to brand certain synthetic drugs that interact with the brain’s cannabinoid receptors.
Unknown to most of its users, it is not a plant, but different chemical compounds sprayed on dried herbs. The herbs can then be rolled in papers and smoked like regular marijuana or stored in cartridges which can be used through vaping. At first glance, the dried herbs look just like regular marijuana. Going on to earn the compounds the moniker “synthetic weed or marijuana” which has gone on to give it some form of “credence,” as acceptance of Marijuana is gradually on an upward trajectory.
What is Spice/ K2, Synthetic Marijuana?
K2 and Spice are just two of the many trade names or brands for synthetic designer drugs that are intended to mimic THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. These designer synthetic drugs are from the synthetic cannabinoid class of drugs that are often marketed and sold under the guise of “herbal incense” or “potpourri.”
These products are being abused for their psychoactive properties and are packaged without information as to their health and safety risks.
Street Title
Spice, K2, RedX Dawn, Paradise, Demon, Black Magic, Spike, Mr. Nice Guy, Ninja, Zohai, Dream, Genie, Sence, Smoke, Skunk, Serenity, Yucatan, Fire, Skooby Snax, and Crazy Clown.
How is it abused?
Spraying or mixing the synthetic cannabinoids on plant material provides a vehicle for the most common route of administration - smoking (using a pipe, a water pipe, or rolling the drug-laced plant material in cigarette papers). In addition to the cannabinoids laced on plant material and sold as potpourri and incense, liquid cannabinoids have been designed to be vaporized through both disposable and reusable electronic cigarettes.
What are its effect on the body?
State public health and poison centers have issued warnings in response to adverse health effects associated with abuse of herbal incense products containing these synthetic cannabinoids. These adverse effects included tachycardia (elevated heart rate), elevated blood pressure, unconsciousness, tremors, seizures, vomiting, hallucinations, agitation, anxiety, pallor, numbness, and tingling. This is in addition to the numerous public health and poison centers which have similarly issued warnings regarding the abuse of these synthetic cannabinoids. In some instances, the adverse health effects can be long-lasting even after the user quits using the substances.
“What is known is that young people, including adolescents, are having heart attacks,” she adds. “There have been kidney failures and deaths. These drugs can cause cardiac arrhythmias and also severe psychiatric effects, including psychosis and hallucinations.”
In fact, “in some cases it can look like schizophrenia,” says Dr. Larissa Mooney, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry and director of the Addiction Medicine Clinic at the University of California, Los Angeles. “People can have breaks with reality and altered perceptions. They can experience paranoia and delusions.”