20 Aug Illegal Synthetic Cannabinoids’ Use Growing

Unfortunately, the use of synthetic cannabinoids has been growing worldwide and especially here in the US. Synthetic products, available over the Internet and inexpensive, start with natural herbs and flowers but add manufactured cannabinoids to create the “high.” The problem is that the synthetic product does not work the same as the natural cannabis plant, and as a result your body does not have the same ability to moderate its impact.

These products started in the UK around 2004 as an apparently legal alternative to cannabis and are based on academic research in the 1990s regarding mood and anxiety. Many users end up in the hospital with uncontrollable vomiting, paranoia, heart issues, etc. There have even been some deaths, including suicides.

In 2012 the US made these synthetic products Schedule I drugs and illegal, and every US state bans them in some form or another. There also are several bills recently introduced in Congress to enhance enforcement against synthetics. But the manufacturers keep changing their formulas in an attempt to bypass the legal restrictions, and the apparent legal nature of these is part of the attraction of the synthetic product. In addition, athletes, parolees and others like these products because they do not show up on employer drug tests.

Use and damage from synthetics appears to be continuing to grow. Just last month over just a 3 day period, 102 people were admitted for overdoses in the single county of Lancaster, PA. At the same time as legalization of natural cannabis grows due to the medical benefits and personal freedom provided, it seems important to ensure that these very dangerous and illegal substitutes are (a) stopped through any and all prosecutorial means necessary and (b) not used as part of the argument against legalization of the natural product.