Synthetics & Marijuana
On January 13, 2015 the National Conference of State Legislatures produced an article, "Synthetic Drug Threats". The article explained the recent regulation of these drugs due to the threats these drugs pose.
Synthetic drugs are chemically produced used to either take the place of or magnify the effects of natural drugs. Some examples of synthetic drugs most are familiar with and have been around for quite sometime would be Ecstasy and Meth. Yet, in the past 5 years or so synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones have become extremely prominent in our country.
The article provides an overview of these synthetic drugs. Synthetic cannabinoids produce effects similar to those of the natural drug marijuana because it is composed of a chemical that mimics the THC that is found in marijuana. What is interesting about this synthetic cannabinoids is that it produces more intense reactions than the actual drug it is trying to mimic (marijuana). Examples of synthetic canabinoids who name some might be familiar with, that used to be able to be sold in convenient stores prior to recent legislation, are spices, K2, and Genie.
In addition to the synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones have also been popular within recent years and could be easily obtained prior to new legislation. These synthetic cathinones, commonly referred to as bath salts, are a chemical byproduct of the psychoactive substance cathinone. Example of common consumer names of these products consisting synthetic cathinone are white dove, purple wave, or ocean burst.
The article discussed how initially state legislation would aim to get rid of these products by banning specific versions of these synthetic drugs with the establishment of "Individual Bans". The individual bans entailed adding specific substances to their controlled substance acts but realized by doing so, producers would just change the chemical composition of the synthetic drugs to produce the same effects on users just with chemicals that had not yet been legally banned. This has been a serious issue regarding the fight against synthetic drug production, resulting in legislation within recent years to become more broad, and not specifying certain substances to be banned, in "General Bans". Another form of legislative action that has been carried out to prevent the distribution of synthetic drugs is the use of "Analogue Laws". These laws basically ban drugs that are not controlled substances but those that are similar to controlled substances that are already illegal. Some states have even amended their Analogue Laws to specify prominent new synthetic drugs.
Other regulation has been enacted as well to end the synthetic drug threat. States have begun delegating the authority to schedule the drugs and temporarily ban these drugs as they are presented by pharmacy boards and other agencies, refining consumer protection laws creating penalties for misbranding and false advertising by distributors, as well as using existing laws to prosecute the distributors of these synthetic drugs.
The federal Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 was made law and added specific classes of synthetic cannabinoids and mephedrone and MDPV, which are two synthetic cathinones to the controlled substances act.
As we spoke about in class, scheduling of certain drugs classify them in terms of medical use, abuse liability, and safety. Due to the high amount of emergency visits among adolescence after smoking these synthetic drugs which was evident to the class after we had to read the case studies of Schneir et al (2011) and Mir et al (2011), the Federal Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 included the ban of synthetic compounds that are found in synthetic weed (K2/Spice) and scheduled these compounds as a schedule 1 drug.
After learning about the scheduling credentials in class, it is easy to understand why these synthetic drugs have been classified as a schedule 1 drug. I personally have known someone who has over dosed on fake weed as well as a person who drove their car into a brick wall after smoking synthetic cannabinoids. There are no apparent medical use of these synthetic drugs at all, and have been shown to cause more severe reactions that the natural banned drugs they mimic.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
Link to Article:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/synthetic-drug-threats.aspx#1
After reading this article I couldn't agree with you more that synthetic cannabis should be a schedule 1 drug!
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a better way to tackle the problem of synthetic cannabinoids other than simply banning specific chemical compositions under individual or general bans. They seem like they can do some serious damage, especially when available over-the-counter to people without an age restriction. I'm with the commenter above; these definitely deserve their Schedule 1 classification.
ReplyDeleteLike the previous commenters I too wish that there were a better way to regulate synthetic cannabinoids. By only regulating certain chemicals, the door is still left open to be able to make many different combinations of dangerous drugs. When purchased without any age restriction, the youth of America being put at serious risk. It goes without saying that cannabinoids need to be scheduled so that they can be kept out of the hands of people who do not need them.
ReplyDeleteThe whole synthetic drug thing is honestly quite scary. Like the other commenters said there does need to be a better way to regulate these drugs better. These drugs can be super dangerous to the users and for some odd reason the risk doesn't seem to have an effect on whether they are used or not. Theres no doubt in my mind that these drugs need to be scheduled and classified as a schedule 1 drug.
ReplyDelete-James Morgan
This was a great read! Just going off of previous article, these drugs should definitely be schedule I because they can cause some serious damage. I also believe this information should be publicized to younger people more often.
ReplyDeleteThis issue is a really interesting issue that has been on the rise. The use of synthetic marijuana is appealing to some in order to still get that "high" feeling and yet be in accordance with the law. But at what costs? These synthetics have been proven to be more harmful for your body that actual marijuana but the users will argue that the fact they can freely use synthetic marijuana and not break any laws is well worth the risk.
ReplyDeleteRoger P
This was a really interesting article about synthetic marijuana. As has already been stated, there is overwhelming evidence that synthetic marijuana should be a Schedule 1 drug. I also think that the education of users is very important because of the fact that synthetic marijuana could potentially be more harmful than regular marijuana.
ReplyDelete