Philly420: The toxic potpourri masquerading as marijuana

It is not marijuana. It is not even synthetic pot. A better name might be "Chemical Cocktail."

The street drugs known as K2/Spice contain a dangerous mix of chemicals sprayed on random plant material. Sold under hundreds of names in small foil packets, the fad drugs are manufactured overseas.

No one really knows what's in them. That's what is so dangerous.

Technically they are sold as "incense" but people smoke the stuff. The result can lead to serious medical problems. News feeds in the last few weeks are full of stories about emergency rooms in the region seeing a flood of visits over K2/Spice.

It is also important to note that the rise of these synthetic fad drugs is much more prevalent in areas where marijuana remains illegal, like Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Part of the attraction is that using these synthetics will not show up on a standard drug test. That might explain the reported spike in use among members of the military and those in prison.

Another factor making them attractive is the dangerous mislabeling as "synthetic marijuana." People know that natural cannabis is non-toxic and non-lethal. But in the rush to describe these substances, law enforcement and politicians have made a serious miscalculation.

In 2010 a large batch of a laboratory drug called JWH-018 was seized by federal agents at the Philadelphia International Airport UPS shipping facility. The chemical was created by scientists doing medical research on the endocannabinoid system of mice. The seizure was one of the first national news stories to highlight K2/Spice. It was also the first time it was called synthetic pot.

Five years ago the little foil packets could be found in the Philadelphia region at many corner stores and gas stations.

JWH-018 is a synthetic cannabinoid. But, even at the time, it wasn't the only thing in Spice. The few studies performed on the stuff has turned up synthetic opiates, Vitamin E and even acetone.

State and federal lawmakers were quick to seek legislation aimed at banning the substances. But they only focused on the synthetic cannabinoids.

By 2013, the DEA along with the legislatures of New Jersey and Pennsylvania had banned seven specific chemicals. Police raided a few gas stations where they seized old formulations of K2/Spice.

The manufacturers simply switched their recipe to more obscure chemicals. Spice huffers also found that they could readily buy the packets online.

Now the substances are getting more complex and are still easy to obtain.

As I waited in support of a friend recently at the Camden County Courthouse, a woman in the waiting area asked about my gold marijuana leaf lapel pin. It always starts a good conversation. I told her about my work in marijuana reform.

She was white with short, dirty blonde hair, rail thin and wore tight, out-of-style acid-washed jeans along with a t-shirt from a local bar. She said she was 41 but looked 60. Unabashedly she told me about a long string of arrests for methamphetamine, shoplifting and prostitution. Another probation hearing was taking place for her that day.

She expressed support for legal marijuana and added that she would rather smoke pot than Spice.

I asked if I could take some notes for a column and she agreed as long as I did not use her name.

She said used Spice regularly.

"All the time, about every other day. It's the only thing I can use. They won't let me drink and if I use any drugs I'll go to jail."

I asked if there was a particular brand she preferred.

"They are all different. They all have a different high. But once I find one I like, I buy them all."

She said she could still find them in convenience stores. But there were also street sellers, usually the same guys who sell incense.

"I'll go from place to place and get one pack from them. Then I go home and try them all. Once I find that one that really does it I go back to get the rest."

I asked who else uses it.

"Everyone who uses [Spice] is on probation or parole or something. I have never, ever failed a drug test. Nobody else either. And I find the good stuff. They call me the Spice Queen," she laughs with some genuine pride at the last part.

Did she ever have a bad experience with it? "Oh yeah. Some of that sh-- made me feel horrible, like I was going to puke my guts out. It tastes horrible too. And my throat and lungs have this burning all the time."

So why keep using it? She looks me in the eye, " Because it's the only thing I can do. You keep up what you're doing, maybe I can smoke some weed someday."

Indeed, Arizona allows those on probation or parole to use medical marijuana. Maryland and Colorado have bill currently moving to remove a positive THC test from a probation/parole violation.

The gateway theory of cannabis has been debunked. In fact, when cannabis is no longer prohibited people switch away from opiate painkillers, alcohol and harder drugs in favor of the plant.

Until marijuana is fully legal these synthetic drugs may continue to be a problem.

In a previous Philly420 column I interviewed Dr. Jahan Marcu about K2/Spice. Marcu is one of the few cannabinoid scientists in America and his lab research was curtailed when some of the synthetic cannabinoids related to Spice were banned.  His comments about the mislabeling are worth revisiting.

PHILLY420: Should Spice be labeled "synthetic marijuana"? Why is this term a bad fit?

MARCU: Scientists have published many opinions which state that organic or natural marijuana is much safer that these synthetic designer drugs. The big concern is that people will mistake the safety of cannabis (nontoxic, no risk of overdose) and its effects (time of action, intensity) with drugs that have a completely different pharmacological profile. It's like saying beer and vodka are the same thing - if you drank a pint of either.

Additionally, these herbal mixtures of designer drugs can contain cathione analogues, tryptamine analogues of LSD, phenethylamines. piperazines, alky nitrates ... and that's just the stuff they have been able to identify.

Many other compounds identified are unknown, or go undetected. And who knows what these turn into once they are set on fire/smoked or metabolized.

These drugs have a few effects that mimic cannabis but many have more effects that have never, or have seldom been, reported with cannabis.

These new drugs interact with receptors in a different way and are metabolized in different ways. What happens to these synthetic drugs after consumption? They do not just magically leave your body, they are turned into different drugs by the liver and other processes. These have actions of their own, and this may account for many negative effects reported.

The acute negative symptoms are easily treatable with Benadryl, according to the case reports that looked at hospital visits from overdoses of Spice. Case reports suggest putting the person suffering from Spice overdose in a room that is not very stimulating and talking to them, and administering Benadryl to calm the person.

Chris Goldstein is associate editor of Freedom Leaf magazine and co-chair of PhillyNorml. Contact him at chris@freedomisgreen.com.