Why synthetic drugs? The designers wanted to create new markets by offering cheaper alternatives to older illegal drugs.
marketing techniques used by the manufacturers and distributors of these dangerous drugs. Te packaging is oſten colorful and well thought out to atract the atention of young people. Te products are affordable for those with limited financial resources. Tey are oſten flavored with bubblegum, coton candy, juicy fruit and anything that will give it an appeal to the targeted younger audience. Another concern is that they may also be adulterated by adding other drugs of abuse to enhance the high. Te practice of adulteration has led laboratories to identify adulterants such as MDMA (ecstasy) and bath salts in samples of K2. Te concentration ranges of 0.2 percent–3 percent as assayed by national laboratories4 created by manufacturing purification issues lead to a broad range of potencies that have a direct influence on the adverse reactions experienced. When you put together the facts of more potency, less euphoria, and wide concentration swings, you get a wide range of adverse reactions. If you use synthetic marijuana the same way you use natural marijuana, it could result in death! Another common synthetic drug is bath salts, given this name because it is sold as
28 datia focus
minerals used to enhance one’s bath as well as insect repellent, jewelry cleaner, plant feeder and stain remover. Derived from the Khat plant, its parent compound is cathinone. Names such as Tunda, White Lightning, and White Snow are the deceptive names under which the bogus products are sold. Te packaging includes instructions such as “must be 18 or older to purchase,” “for adults only” and “legal in this state,” which is the signal that the product is not what it seems. Bath salt products were intended to mimic the stimulant effects of amphetamine, the hallucinogenic effects of LSD and the superhuman strength of PCP. It produces all the side effects associated with all three plus delusions, hallucinations, seizures, convulsions and death. Again we have another synthetic drug
with very litle proven medicinal value. Unlike synthetic marijuana, we have developed a couple of useful drugs from cathinone the originator chemical of the class. Wellbutrin (bupropion), an anti- depressant, is the most well-known of the medicinal products developed. Another cathinone related pharmaceutical is Tenuate (diethylpropion). Tis drug was used as a diet pill but never gained much of a foothold as a legitimate anorexiant. Why synthetic drugs? Te designers
wanted to create new markets by offering cheaper alternatives to older illegal drugs. Tey wanted to circumvent the law and beat current drug testing. If they could produce a product like the older illegal products of marijuana and ecstasy that were legal and undetectable by current drug testing means then they could make millions of dollars. Spice is more potent than marijuana while
being less euphoric. CI is defined as Schedule I Controlled
Substances—Substances in this schedule have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse. Some examples of substances listed in Schedule I are: heroin,
lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“Ecstasy”). “Aside from it working on some of the
same brain receptors, it’s really not like marijuana at all,” said Dr. Vito Rocco, co- director of emergency medicine at Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn, MI3
. It produces all the side effects of
marijuana and additionally arrhythmias, seizures, convulsions, panic atacks, paranoia and anxiety. It is more potent (increased side effects), less euphoric (increased tendency to use more), extreme concentration ranges due to unsophisticated chemists producing the product, and no testing as to the short or long-term safety of using these ever changing drugs of abuse. Te botom line is if you try and use synthetic marijuana as you did marijuana you could easily end up in the emergency room. One-time use has resulted in death. Te latest law bans specific synthetic
marijuana and bath salts plus products that are related to them. Te problem is identification; they change faster than the drug testing industry can keep up with detecting them. Synthetics are not substitutes for the
“classics.” Te side effects are more intense and dangerous. Tere has been an identified withdrawal syndrome associated with K2. Some of the most widely reported Spice withdrawal symptoms include: • Gastrointestinal—vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea.
• Metabolic—loss of appetite, inability to sleep, extreme sweating, craving for the drug
• Psychiatric—Depression, loss of motivation, psychosis We need more research into the long-
term effects of these drugs and beter ways to detect them. Each time the chemical formulary is changed so is the potential for side effects and adverse effects. Also, a miracle cure for cancer could be discovered, but is this the scientific method
Winter 2016
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