Spice is a brand of synthetic marijuana that looks like existent marijuana or potpourri packaged in colorful foil. Sold in convenience stores, this dangerous and addictive drug besides comes in a liquid grade for vaping.

Spice looks fairly harmless in its foil packages branded with superheroes, drawing characters, smiley faces and other colorful images. The drug is cheap and piece of cake to go from convenience stores and head shops, just Spice is far from safe. Likewise known every bit K2, the stale constitute material is a form of synthetic marijuana that is far more powerful than marijuana. The furnishings of Spice can include severe airsickness, psychotic fits, heart attacks and strokes. Spice often resembles potpourri or herbal tobacco, and most people fume it. Unlike existent weed, synthetic marijuana is non gluey and does not contain buds. It's typically finely cut and greenish-dark-brown in color.

Source: U.Southward. Drug Enforcement Administration

Constructed marijuana is also sold in vials in a liquid form that can be vaped. The vials are sometimes erroneously labeled equally CBD oil, a benign ingredient constitute in marijuana, when they really contain unsafe synthetic cannabinoids.

Source: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

How Is Spice Different from Marijuana?

Synthetic marijuana is a batter of manmade chemicals designed to mimic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. The chemicals are sprayed onto dried plant cloth — such as tea leaves, stale herbs and grass clippings — that is sold in attractive packets. Information technology'south impossible to know exactly what chemicals are really in whatever given packet of Spice. That's because the drugs are adult in clandestine labs in Mainland china and other countries and smuggled into the United States. Constructed marijuana falls under a category of drugs called novel psychoactive substances (NPS). These drugs mimic the effects of other banned drugs, such as marijuana or cocaine, while not breaking any drug laws. Each time drug enforcement agencies catch on and begin to crack down on a specific NPS, the drugmakers tweak their recipes and gyre out a slightly unlike formula. Equally a result, in that location is niggling to no uniformity in drugs like Spice and K2. The aforementioned make of synthetic marijuana can contain completely different chemicals or more potent levels of the same chemicals. In addition, batches of fake weed are sometimes tainted with toxic contaminants, such as cocaine, sleeping pills and even rat toxicant.

Deceptive Marketing

The packaging that Spice, K2 and other types of fake weed come in is intentionally misleading. Packets are oft labeled as herbal incense, even though they comprise illicit drugs. It's also common on packaging to say "not for man consumption" and "non meant to burned, smoked or incinerated." In reality, that'southward exactly what people exercise with the drug.

Alarm: The Truth About Spice

  • Spice is not natural
  • Spice is not legal
  • Spice is addictive
  • Spice is non safe
  • Spice is not marijuana

Packages of faux weed frequently claim that the product is legal — information technology isn't — and incorporate warning labels stating that the product should be kept out of the reach of children. But with their bright colors and youth-targeted designs, synthetic marijuana packages are clearly intended to catch the eye of adolescents and preadolescents.

Source: U.Due south. Drug Enforcement Administration

Street Names for Spice

There are more than than 100 chemical variants of synthetic marijuana, and the drug goes by hundreds of names. Spice and K2, ii of the first and all-time-known brands of faux weed, are at present mutual monikers for the drug. Other brands of synthetic pot include Scooby Snax, Mr. Happy, AK-47, Kush, Kronic, Joker, Black Mamba, Bling Blank Monkey, Bombay Bluish, Climax, Cloud ix, Genie, Matrix, OMG, Phantom, Releaf and Zohai.

Recognizing Spice Use and Habit

If someone is using Spice, y'all may notice a distinctive and unpleasant odor. Synthetic marijuana doesn't smell similar cigarettes or weed. It has a stale, pungent and sometimes fishy olfactory property that tends to cling to clothing. Behavior is the biggest tip-off that a person is using spice. People who use synthetic marijuana may become extremely anxious, paranoid and vehement. The drug can also trigger severe vomiting, suicidal thoughts and actions and episodes of acute psychosis. Spice addiction is common, and a person tin can chop-chop spiral into a vicious cycle of round-the-clock use of the drug. In the documentary The Last High, people who've used the drug describe horrible first-time experiences. Merely despite their harsh reactions, they used the drug over and over once more. Blayke, a former Kush dealer from Baytown, Texas, who appears in the film, compares the drug to cigarettes. "One time y'all take that first hit and realize what it does to yous, like physically and mentally, it'southward completely a different abortion. Even just the odour of opening up a fresh bag was similar an aphrodisiac." A person who is physically dependent on Spice may suffer from headaches, depression, anxiety and other withdrawal symptoms if they suddenly end using the drug. Medical detox can salvage some of these symptoms, and rehab can provide the tools to manage cravings brought on by withdrawal from Spice and other synthetic marijuana products.

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By – Amy Keller, RN, BSN

Amy is a writer and researcher for DrugRehab.com. Equally a former announcer and a registered nurse, Amy draws on her clinical experience, pity and storytelling skills to provide insight into the affliction of addiction and treatment options. Read more

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