What Are Your Views On Synthetic Marijuana?

Lately in my town, synthetic marijuana has pretty much taken over. I used to think it was just a myth, that the videos i see on Facebook and YouTube were fake. But then people I knew started using it. I would go to a party with some friends and watch people smoke it and start tripping and even passing out. Its not a pretty sight.

I read up on it a little, and its not the plants that give you the "high", its the chemicals they spray onto the plants that gets it going. And the people smoking the synthetic weed aren't even aware of the many different chemicals they're putting into their bodies. I hear about young adults overdosing or freaking out so bad, they end up in the hospital. I even have a few friends who were addicted to this fake weed as well! Its a real problem.

I just don't understand how synthetic weed causes so many issues, health problems and addictions and its perfectly legal but regular weed isn't?

What are your thoughts?

Regular weed has chemicals sprayed onto it as well, but the difference is that the weed is from the actual marijuana plant. The marijuana plant is natural, but not with chemicals sprayed onto it and budded so it'll get you high. The synthetic is the opposite in the fact that it's not natural marijuana plant. And I've heard of people ending up in the hospital from it too. It's people's stupidity to even want to try it after hearing about those side effects. Just shows how desperate people are.

Synthetic marijuana is actually more appropriately termed synthetic cannabinoid. Since it mimics the effect of marijuana but in a more dangerous way. It also has different ingredients from marijuana itself, in fact, the ingredients stated on its packet are really not what its made of. The packet lists herbal ingredients but when the laboratory tested it, none of them were present. Synthetic tocopherol is mostly what it's made of. Its effects are in the psychosis family and this drug is very dangerous for people who have a family history of mental illnesses. I think this drug is banned in Europe already. Some states in the US have made it illegal and I hope that other states follow soon.

Well I am totally against synthetic marijuana as the effects, affects and side effects are completely different than that of normal marijuana. My little town had a mighty epidemic and has finally banned in a tri-county area yet some folks will go beyond that boundary to where it is legal to buy or buy it off the street; which is even more dangerous. I have witnessed many folks that smoked “regular weed” and never did I see any one of them go ballistic.
My daughter smoked synthetic marijuana and had several awful experiences; ended up in ER twice and was a completely different person.

I reckon that this sort of marijuana can cause problems to a person and also I think that people need to see what it can do to a person, and also the effects can be bad and the health problems can cause a person to be in a hospital. I know some people who have landed in the hospital who took the synthetic marijuana and did not think of the consequences, which can be fatal for some or life long suffering for the ones who survive. It is interesting to see how this drug is made and also think that people need to see the bad sides of the drug as it can lead to problems for the person, and also the family who have to suffer from the consequences from their family member.

So what exactly is this plant that has the chemical sprayed on it? It doesn't make any sense to have synthetic when the real thing probably would have less effects. It's like choosing to eat synthetic food when you can just eat some real food.

Where I live real weed is more legal than synthetic. Synthetic weed is really not weed at all this stuff is dangerous. People go crazy of this stuff. When I tried this I had a really bad experience. This kind of smoke is bad for your health too.

Ok, so I started working in a very popular smoke shop in my town, right around the time that "spice" or what's being referred to as 'synthetic marijuana' hit the markets in PNW. It was still very new to our nation and very little information was given to us about it in the beginning. Some of the first labels we sold in our shop were, K2 and dragon smoke. At the time, it was still referred to as 'fake weed' and still very legal. (We would sell it asking if a person needed a pipe to go with it.) From what research we did and found out through our customers, (and personal experience) it was pretty mellow and still a lot like regular marijuana. In a nutshell, it came from science. If I'm not mistaken, scientists in Europe were attempting to create an actual, synthetic marijuana for medicinal purposes. When they accomplished this, they called it "spice". Now, I'm not quite sure exactly how long it took to come to where I was, I believe about two-three years after creation.

So, as time went on, (four year long story short) it was banned at least four or five times. Each times the rules changed and so did the name. It went from spice, to herbal incense, to sachet (to recall the major nicknames we gave it). However, it wasn't just the name that was being changed, it was a list of chemical compounds that was being banned and that it was no longer allowed to be consumed. Each time a ban would happen, the list got longer. So the concept of 'synthetic pot', left the hands of actual scientists and dropped into the hands of street scientists. Eventually the stuff that we were selling was being made by joe-shmo, in basements and warehouses throughout our city.

This is where it really got scary. Our company introduced a product called "mr. nice guy", which ended up being the heaviest, most hard hitting, dangerous blend of them all. (At one point we had up to 40 different types.) Our customers started to change, their lives started to change, and we started to feel like actual drug dealers. Now, one could potentially imagine how a pro-pot company would want to help our neighbors who had to drug test for work or were looking for a little party-favor, by selling the well-intentioned 'fake-pot' that won't turn up in a drug screen. But after a while, some of us were revolting and refusing to sell it at all. I witnessed overdose, withdrawal, theft, desperation, as well as total deterioration of the lives of many good people. I was screamed at, had my life threatened on various occasions and even followed to my car for refusing to break company rules so that someone could get their fix for free. Our company's profit went up nearly 1000% in one year. It was terrifying and heartbreaking above all.

So to put it simply, the substance that ended up sweeping the nation was a warped Frankenstein-like variety of various plants (damiana, marshmallow leaf, lettuce opium, and other mild-when-consumed like green leaf) sprayed or soaked with...well, who knows what types of chemicals. And what was worse, is that it was highly addictive. Basically, it became kin to methamphetamine as far as we could tell.

Our company finally stopped selling it and replaced it with an all natural smoking blend of various types.

People have died. Kidney failure has proven to be an issue among users, as well as deterioration of the mind. Many of our customers have since entered drug treatment or moved away...if not disappeared completely. We even had a guy blow himself up in his kitchen, trying to refine and concentrate the stuff, before he would quite. Literally, one of the scariest things I've ever gone through and I wouldn't ever condone it to ANYONE EVER again.

I never knew things like that were happening. I'm glad that you were able to tell us your story. I never get to hear the other side sometimes and that could make a difference. It must be hard watching people go through all kinds of stuff because of the chemicals.

Very much so, it was a very tough few years. On one side, producers and owners were promising that it was safe and legal but we felt like we were on the front lines of a war - as the bad guys.

Like I said before, I had tried it in the beginning, but didn't really have a reason nor wish to continue using it. However, I found that sampling a type myself was not only helpful with sales, but it helped my staff and I to feel a bit safer in knowing the effects and having a critic firsthand. It felt more honest and just morally right. Being more open minded at the time, I decided that I would try every new type that we got in my store. Boy was I in for an eyeopener! I took it on as my responsibility to continue this for the safety of my customers, who most of which were very dear to me. I found that the stuff can be wicked strong and equally as scary. I learned quickly not to do it in public!

Being young at the time and as I said, open minded, I had tried many types of party drugs around then. This one was by far, the strongest and craziest, most intense and uncontrollable. It can affect vision, hearing (including audio hallucinations), paranoia, and general function &/or basic motor skills. The most outstanding effects in my experience, was the grasp it could easily have on my perception and disposition. What's more is that it could happen in a minute. There were times that I forgot where I was or what I was doing (which hasn't once happened with any of my hippie loving substances in any amount). There were other times that I felt a total disassociation with myself, my surroundings, or my people.

I can recall a night in where I consumed a small amount and within 15 minutes I was spinning, had hot flashes, and ended up loosing all function on the bathroom floor. I had run there feeling sick and found that after a moment, my body felt too heavy to lift back up. I literally felt myself as dead-weight. And although completely conscious, my mind went to a dark and very insecure place. My friends found me after a while (thank goodness I was at home) and my friend ended up making me a bed on the bathroom floor, where I had to be placed because I couldn't move. She slept there with me because as I later learned, it seemed that I stopped breathing multiple times. I woke up a few hours later, completely fine. In all, I was very lucky to only have had a few bad experiences, nothing life threatening...so far.

There was also a period of time in where I found myself using a mild blend quite often. Until I couldn't NOT do it for a while. (Which is not my normal behavior.) During this time, I found a few lingering effects. I experienced headaches, stomach aches, short temper, insomnia, forgetfulness, heightened stress, and finally a cycle of not wanting to do it - but doing it anyway. After a while I was so distraught about my behavior and how this substance seemed to be changing me and quit. Others were not so lucky to just walk away, and I don't know how I could have if it weren't for the support I had around me in friends and family.

Spice gave me many reasons to nickname it 'the devil'....which was how I referred to it after a while - even to my customers.

Synthetic marijuana is actually more suitably termed artificial cannabinoid. Since it impersonators the effect of marijuana but in a more unsafe way. It also has dissimilar ingredients from marijuana itself, in fact, the fixings stated on its packet are really not what its made of. The pack lists herbal ingredients but when the workroom tested it, none of them were present. Synthetic tocopherol is mostly what it's complete of. Its effects are in the fixation family and this drug is very unsafe for people who have a family past of mental illnesses. I think this drug is disqualified in Europe already. Some states in the US have made it illegal and I confidence that other states follow soon.