Dangers of Synthetic Cannabis

I’m sure most people have heard on the news horror stories about drugs like meth and bath salts. These stories are mostly tragic, which should be expected since these are hard drugs that really mess with a person’s brain.

However, it seems like more and more stories are coming out about people who smoked synthetic cannabis and got really fucked up. The fake weed comes in many forms and names, such as K2, Spice, and potpourri. It can be bought at some gas stations and convenience stores in smokeable or edible forms.

According to this story on Forbes, a 15 year old kid smoked some of this stuff and apparently ran away into the woods with a loaded gun. Since then, he has been institutionalized more than 15 times and has tried to kill himself multiple times.

Another article on live science describes a girl who smoked synthetic marijuana and had violent outbursts and psychotic behavior before being taken to the emergency room. Even after being released, the teen would behave violently and injure herself. It got so bad that they had to put her in a coma, and afterwards they found that her brain was all fucked up.

I’m sure anyone could find more stories like this through a Google search.

I’ve smoked spice a few times. To my knowledge, it didn’t fuck me up at all, which I’m glad for. I’ll never touch the stuff again, though. It gets you high but it tastes like eating burnt chemicals. It also looks to be made of some kind of random plant matter. I would see these little spores in the baggie, and it smelled like it had been sprayed with some kind of chemical sheen.

The thing that freaks me out is that you have no idea what that shit is made of. There has been practically no research on how it affects you, your brain, or organs. I know state and federal governments are against the fake weed, and I’m with them on this one.

The dangers of synthetic weed creates yet another reason for legalizing marijuana and providing safe access. Teens who inevitably may be introduced to drugs would be better to get into marijuana than spice (teens should avoid both). You can also look at it like this: one way or another, there are going to be people who abuse drugs. If so, it’s better they abuse marijuana which is much safer than these fake imitations.

Marijuana is natural, comes from the earth, and while you can breed a more potent cannabis plant, you can’t make it dangerous like lab-made drugs can be. It kills me they even call this shit ‘synthetic cannabis’ as it deserves zero association with cannabis.

For some great information on synthetic marijuana, check out the drug abuse database.