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Parents are required to vaccinate kids under the age of 18.

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Parents are required to vaccinate kids under the age of 18.

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Credit: Sanja Gjenero | Stock Xchng

Synthetic marijuana, or "fake" pot, is nothing like the real thing. It's legal, and easily accessible to kids.

It's also a bigger threat to kids' health.

"Marijuana has been used for medicinal and recreational purposes for hundreds of years," said Dr. Jeff Lapoint, a senior toxicology fellow at New York University, Bellevue Hospital. " It's been abused, but no one really gets sick."

"Kids need to know that this substance is more dangerous," Lapoint said.

Popularly called K2, or Spice, synthetic marijuana is a chemical similar to cannabis that gives a marijuana-like high.

But there have been an increasing number of cases of people experiencing seizures, heart palpitations, fever, dehydration and some psychotic episodes after using the drug.

A more potent version of marijuana

Since 2004, K2 has been sold and packaged as incense or potpourri, in the guise of a mixture of herbs and spices. It sells for about $30 to $40 per 3-gram bag, comparable to the cost of marijuana.

Drugmakers can make hundreds of versions of the chemical compound, and it's easy to manufacture.

Although the Drug Enforcement Administration has taken steps to ban five chemicals sometimes found in K2, versions of the compound have multiplied, and increased in use over the past few years.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 11 percent of nearly 15,000 high school seniors surveyed reported using K2 in 2011.

That year, poison control centers reported handling nearly 7,000 calls about K2, nearly double the calls received in 2010.

One recent study suggests that K2 could increase the risk of psychosis, even among people with no history of a psychiatric disorder.

"K2 is a more potent substance than natural marijuana by its actions on the brain," said Dr. Ashwin Reddy, an author of that study and a psychiatrist at the Boston University School of Medicine. "It can cause an increased risk of paranoia, hearing voices, disorganized behavior and panic symptoms."

"Depending on the person, psychotic symptoms can last a few days to a few months," Reddy said.

Not intended for human use

K2 is sometimes reported as having originated in Europe, but was actually developed by John W. Huffman, a chemist at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Initially created as a medical treatment, the substance works on the brain the sameway as marijuana's active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

THC is the substance in marijuana that produces the "high" feeling of intoxication that pot smokers crave.

"This drug was never intended for people to use, just for use in a lab," Lapoint said.

But also disturbing is the unregulated amount of chemicals added in each package.

"You don't know how much of which chemical they put in each package so you don't know what you're getting and how your body will handle it," he said.

Pass it on: Synthetic pot is a more potent - and dangerous - form of marijuana.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily on Twitter @MyHealth_MHND. Find us on Facebook.

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Why Synthetic Marijuana Is More Dangerous Than the Real Thing

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Synthetic marijuana, or "fake" pot, is nothing like the real thing. It's legal, and easily accessible to kids. It's also a bigger threat to kids' health. "Marijuana has been used for medicinal and recreational purposes for hundreds of years," said Dr. Jeff Lapoint, a senior toxicology fellow at New York University, Bellevue Hospital.

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How harmful is K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana or synthetic cannabinoids)? | FAQs | Marijuana | CDC

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CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S.

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What is K2?

K2 is a kind of synthetic cannabinoid that is also known as Spice. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), K2 and other synthetic cannabinoids are manmade chemicals that can alter a person's mental state. These chemicals are usually sprayed onto some kind of plant material, which gives them a more natural appearance and enables the consumption of the substance through smoking. K2 is also sold in liquid form, so it is can be vaporized and inhaled through that method. This is commonly done with vaporizers and e-cigarettes.

The Basics of K2

K2 belongs to a category of substances known as new psychoactive substances (NPS). These substances were not regulated for some time, which has historically made them easier to obtain than regulated drugs. There are now hundreds of brands of synthetic cannabinoids on the market, and they can be obtained at a variety of stores as well as online.

Today, however, many of the chemicals commonly found in K2 have been scheduled as illegal. Yet, individuals are consistently attempting to skirt these regulations by changing the chemical compounds in the drug, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. This can result in more unpredictable and dangerous concoctions that can lead to overdose.

K2 and other synthetic cannabinoids are often referred to as synthetic marijuana, but this term is misleading. Though some of the effects of K2 and marijuana can be similar, the substances are not chemically related in any way. Drugs like K2 are often marked as a safe alternative to marijuana, though this is not the case; the effects of K2 can be unpredictable and dangerous.

Packaging often warns that K2 is "not for human consumption," but those who use it disregard this warning. There is a lot of false advertising when it comes to K2, as labeling will often indicate that the packages contain natural material. While K2 does contain some natural material, the effects of the drug come from the synthetic chemicals that have been sprayed onto the dried plant substance.

Effects of K2

K2 interacts with the same brain cell receptors as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the active chemical in marijuana. This is the reason that the drug is commonly associated with marijuana and sometimes referenced as synthetic marijuana.

K2's effects on the brain can be more significant than those of marijuana, making the drug more unpredictable and dangerous.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), K2 stays in a person's system for a long time, and the long-term effects of the drug are still not fully known. Individuals who have taken K2 have exhibited serious short-term symptoms and problems, including:

It's clear that while some effects of K2 are similar to those of marijuana, there are some that do not mirror marijuana at all. Such effects can result in dangerous behaviors. Like all synthetic substances, it's difficult for individuals who use them to know exactly what they are getting when they purchase these substances.

Prevalence of K2

In 2010, more than 11,000 people were admitted to the ER as a result of synthetic cannabinoids, according to NIDA. Seventy-five percent of these individuals were between the ages of 12 and 29. Additionally, more than 75% of those admitted to the ER with a synthetic cannabinoid-related issue were male.

No deadly overdoses of the drug have been reported, but ER visits appear to be on the rise. New York City reported about 8,000 ER visits related to K2 between January 2015 and July 2016.

A 2016 study done by NIDA found that K2 use may begin early. Nearly 3% of 8th-grade students surveyed reported using the drug, and that number increased with age, landing at 3.5% among 12th graders. The Monitoring the Future Survey conducted in 2014 showed that synthetic cannabinoids were some of the most used drugs among high school seniors, second only to marijuana. However, since regulation regarding K2 has increased, use in high schools has seen a general decrease.

K2 Safety & Overdose

K2 is even more dangerous due to prevalent myths regarding its status as a "safe" substance. People mistakenly believe the drug is safe, and as a result, they may chronically misuse it, risking serious dangers and addiction.

As previously mentioned, K2 is significantly more potent and dangerous than marijuana and has been responsible for thousands of emergency room visits and short-term health problems, including overdose.

Signs of K2 overdose may include:

Elevated blood pressure.

Reduced blood supply to the heart.

Kidney damage.

Seizures.

Seek medical attention immediately if you think you or someone you love might be experiencing an overdose.

K2 Addiction

It has been found that synthetic cannabinoids can be 100 times more powerful than marijuana and highly addictive, which can lead to withdrawal if the substance is suddenly removed from an individual's system. Withdrawal may result in an irritable attitude, headaches, depression, and anxiety. Withdrawal is an exceptionally unstable time for an individual with a physical dependence on a substance, so medical supervision is advised.

While new psychoactive substances like K2 are difficult to control due to the ever-changing chemistry involved in the synthesis of the drug, authorities have been cracking down significantly in recent years. In 2011, 5 common components of K2 were classified as Schedule I drugs, according to the DEA.

State, city, and federal officials are consistently attempting to stiffen regulations on the sale of synthetic cannabinoids. New York City, for example, has banned the use or sale of any variant or version of the drug in an attempt to close some of the loopholes for manufacturers and distributors of K2. There have also been significant arrests and seizures relating to synthetic cannabinoids, which should serve as a significant deterrent for manufacturers.

Find Drug Rehabs Near You

If you or a loved one struggle with synthetic cannabinoid use, treatment can help. American Addiction Centers (AAC) operates substance use treatment centers throughout the United States. Reach out today to begin your path to recovery.

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K2's effects on the brain can be more significant than those of marijuana, making the drug more unpredictable and dangerous. Some of those could include confusion, hallucinations, extreme cases of anxiety and paranoia.

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Criminalising abortion does not stop abortions, it just makes abortion less safe.

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Do I really believe that the choice to have an abortion should be legal in every circumstance? Yes
This is the second part of a series in which I'll respond to commenters' questions, concerns or bafflement about previous columns. This week, I'm talking about abortion.
There were a lot of passionate responses to my piece last week, "My 28 week pregnancy and a 20-week abortion ban: why choice still matters." Comments ranged from the supportive to the horrified. One question came up several times, however: Am I actually arguing that there should be no legal limitations on abortion?

The short answer: yes.

I think abortion should be legal without any restrictions - no parental consent laws, no mandated ultrasounds, no waiting periods, no bans on late term abortions and no bans on federal funding for abortion. I also believe people should be able to become parents when they want, how they want and without interference from the government. (If you think restrictions on abortion and restrictions on parenthood are unrelated, you are wrong.)

If that were the law of the land, it would also mean an end to rape and incest exceptions - because we wouldn't need them. Women wouldn't (and shouldn't) have to prove that their abortion is of the "acceptable" variety. We wouldn't (and shouldn't) have to pretend that women who are forced into sex are somehow more deserving of medical care than women who chose to have sex. We could rid ourselves of the hierarchy of "good" and "bad" abortions.

The decision to have an abortion is personal and complicated, and any legislation that seeks to control such decisions is based on an anti-choice ideology that thinks very little of women. It assumes that women, if not kept in check by the government, are not to be trusted to make good decisions about their bodies and families.

Particularly when it comes to later term abortions, there is a myth that women are so evil, misguided or stupid that they go seven months into a pregnancy before deciding willy-nilly to end it. This is simply not true. (And yes, I wrote about the complicated moral feelings I have about later abortions - but those feelings don't stop me from knowing that women need access to abortion at different stages in a pregnancy.)

While I don't think we need to make abortion "rare" - saying as much only reinforces the stigma against the procedure - I do believe that part of ending restrictions on abortion is making birth control widely available, cheap, covered by insurance and free for those who don't have insurance. I also think ending legal limitations on abortion would mean women would get the care they need sooner, producing less later abortions.

The truth is that America only started to care about abortion for reasons of sexism and racism. Abortion was legal until the late 1800s, when concern over increased calls for women's suffrage and worry about immigrants' increasing birth rates sparked a movement to legislate the procedure and to get more white Protestant women procreating.

Just as making abortion illegal hurt women actively and tangibly - before Roe as many as 5,000 women a year died every year from unsafe abortions - restricted access to and public policy limiting abortion do the same.

At the end of the day, women's bodily integrity must trump politics. My belief that there should be no abortion restrictions is about fundamentally trusting women - trusting their choices, trusting them with their own bodies and trusting that they know what is best for them and their families.
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There is absolutely no reason to restrict women's options for abortion access | Jessica Valenti

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Do I really believe that the choice to have an abortion should be legal in every circumstance? Yes This is the second part of a series in which I'll respond to commenters' questions, concerns or bafflement about previous columns. This week, I'm talking about abortion.

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Almost exactly 45 years ago, the US supreme court recognized the right to abortion as law of the land. But abortion rights never really stopped being under threat.

The latest move against them comes from the government's tax bill of 2017, which uses the label " unborn child " for fetuses, a terminology coming straight from anti-abortion advocacy that recognizes personhood before birth, opening the way to criminalizing abortion.

This is something that especially penalizes lower-income women. In 2013, an important study of nearly 1,000 women surveyed the most common reasons to lead to an abortion. Be it a single mother who "didn't have money to buy a baby spoon," or the unemployed wife of an unemployed man who didn't "want to go back to living with other people," financial reasons were the most commonly cited by women who sought abortions, followed by it not being the right time to have a baby, and reasons related to the partner (who might be absent, unsupportive, or abusive).

A new study published today in the American Journal of Public Health provides important evidence to expand this claim, showing opposing abortion harms the poor, not just because it's often lower-income women who decide to get abortions, but because being denied an abortion is linked to long-term consequences.

The research, led by Diana Greene Foster, the director of research in gynaecology at the Brixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, at the University of California in San Francisco was conducted on 813 women who requested an abortion in 30 clinics across the US between 2008 and 2010. The researchers recorded these women's socioeconomic situation for five years after being offered or denied the procedure-for the first time in the US, Foster explained to Quartz, the study looked at the links between abortion and economic outcomes, not preconditions.

The participants-over half of the whom already lived below the poverty line-were divided in four groups: Those who received an abortion at the first trimester; those who did around limit gestational age; those who were turned away from the facilities but did not end up giving birth, having found access to abortion elsewhere or suffered miscarriages; and those who ended up having a child.

The findings painting a very different picture of the lives of women who were denied the abortion and ended up giving birth compared to the others. Even accounting for baseline differences, the authors of the study write, they "found large and statistically significant differences in the socioeconomic trajectories of women who were denied wanted abortions compared with women who received abortions," in that those who gave birth against their will suffered more economical hardship than the other groups.

Although the majority of women were already living in poverty when entering the study, carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term was associated with a fourfold increase of the likelihood to be living below the federal poverty life.

Women who didn't manage to have an abortion and gave birth were also less likely to have full-time employment, and more likely to be completely out of a job.

Another valid way to track financial progress is receiving food stamps-as they are given independently of conditions such as the child's age (which might affect health care coverage). The findings in this are in line with what emerged from the other data: Through the five years of the study, nearly half (43%) of the women who ended up giving birth despite wanting an abortion were receiving food subsidies-while in all other groups the percentage was at least 11% lower.

Other markers of social well-being suffer, too. A much higher proportion of women who were denied abortions and ended up not having children were, in the following months and years, living without an adult partner at home.

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Being denied an abortion may lead to poverty

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Almost exactly 45 years ago, the US supreme court recognized the right to abortion as law of the land. But abortion rights never really stopped being under threat. The latest move against them comes from the government's tax bill of 2017, which uses the label " unborn child " for fetuses, a terminology coming straight from anti-abortion advocacy that recognizes personhood before birth, opening the way to criminalizing abortion.

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History of Vaccines
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends getting 29 doses of 9 vaccines (plus yearly flu and COVID-19 shots after six months old) for kids aged 0 to six. [ 121] No U.S. federal laws mandate vaccination, but all 50 states require certain vaccinations for children entering public schools. Most states offer medical and religious exemptions; and some states allow philosophical exemptions. [ 1]

The Chinese used inoculation techniques against smallpox as early as 1000 AD and similar techniques were also used in ancient Africa and Turkey. The first instance of vaccine promotion in the United States was in 1721 when Cotton Mather, a Puritan minister, encouraged smallpox vaccination in response to an outbreak. Vaccination as practiced today came into being when Edward Jenner, English physician and scientist, created the first smallpox vaccine using cowpox (a disease similar to smallpox that infects cows) and vaccinating an eight-year-old boy in 1796. Jenner's innovation was used for 200 years, with updates, and eradicated smallpox. Read more background...

Pro & Con Arguments

Pro 1

Vaccines eradicated smallpox and have nearly eradicated other diseases, however vaccine-preventable diseases have not disappeared so mandated vaccination is still necessary.

According to the WHO, "Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an estimated 350 000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries to 6 reported cases in 2021." The disease now only exists in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Diphtheria killed 21,053 people yearly; measles killed 530,217 people yearly; mumps killed 162,344 people yearly; rubella killed 47,745 people yearly; and Hib (a bacterium that causes pneumonia and meningitis) killed 20,000 people yearly in the twentieth century United States; by 2012 each of these diseases were decreased by 99% because of vaccinations.

However, the CDC notes that many vaccine-preventable diseases are still in the United States or "only a plane ride away." Between Jan. 1, 2019 and May 17, 2019, there were 880 individual measles cases reported in 24 states (compared to 372 cases in all of 2018). Of those, 44 cases were directly imported from 12 other countries, including Philippines, Ukraine, Israel, and Thailand. According to the WHO, in Jan. 2019 alone, there were 1,802 cases of measles in Philippines, 13,760 in Ukraine, 290 in Israel, and 797 in Thailand.

UNICEF reported that, globally, 453,000 children die from rotavirus, 476,000 die from pneumococcus (the bacterium that causes pneumonia, meningitis, and blood infections), 199,000 die from Hib, 195,000 die from pertussis (whooping cough), 118,000 die from the measles, and 60,000 die from tetanus each year, all vaccine-preventable diseases.
Read More

Pro 2

Vaccine mandates ensure the "herd" is protected.

According to Brian K. Lee, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health at Drexel University, herd immunity (or community immunity) is the "state in which a large proportion of a population is able to repel an infectious disease, thereby limiting the extent to which the disease can spread from person to person." Herd immunity is able to "occur when the population density of persons who are susceptible to infection is sufficiently low so as to minimize the likelihood of an infected individual coming in contact with a susceptible individual. Herd immunity can prevent sustained disease spread in populations, thereby protecting susceptible individuals from infection."

Children and adults who cannot be vaccinated due to age, poor health (who are immune-compromised or undergoing chemotherapy, for example), or other reasons rely on herd immunity to prevent contraction of vaccine-preventable diseases.

An Apr. 2019 measles outbreak resulted in the quarantine of over 200 people who had been exposed to the measles on the campuses of the University of California at Los Angeles and California State University. Because they could not verify their vaccinations, quarantining them raised the campus' herd immunity and blocked the spread of the disease. In 2011, 49 US states did not meet the 92-94% herd immunity threshold for pertussis (whooping cough), resulting in a 2012 outbreak that sickened 48,277 people and was the biggest outbreak since 1955.
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Pro 3

Vaccine mandates save children, their parents, and society time and money.

Vaccines cost less in time and money to obtain than infectious diseases cost in time off of work to care for a sick child, potential short- or long-term disability care, and medical costs. For example, children under five with the flu are contagious for about eight days, and, according to a 2012 CDC study, cost their parents an average of 11 to 73 hours of wages (about $222 to $1,456) and $300 to $4,000 in medical expenses. Children with rotavirus are contagious for up to 30 days, greatly increasing costs to parents. Children miss critical school days rich in education and social development, while being subjected to an illness. Furthermore, under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, or Obamacare) many vaccines are available to children and adults without copay.
Read More

Con 1

Vaccine mandates infringe upon constitutionally protected religious freedoms.

The First Amendment of the US Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

In the unanimous 1939 ruling for Cantwell v. Connecticut, the US Supreme Court held that state and local governments' infringement upon religious freedom is also unconstitutional.

Several religions oppose vaccines and mandatory vaccinations. Some Christian Scientists consider vaccinations against their religion because founder Mary Baker Eddy stated that the "calm, Christian state of mind is a better preventative of contagion than a drug, or than any other possible sanative method... the 'perfect Love' that 'casteth out fear' is a sure defense."

The Church of Illumination states that "the teachings of the Church unequivocally affirm that injections of vaccines and inoculations are a violation of these biblical teachings... Immunizations and vaccinations are a form of blood pollution because they have devastating effects on the regeneration of the soul that each Church member seeks to attain."

The Universal Family Church believes that parents should decide whether their children should be vaccinated and that "God intends the health decisions of individuals should... be honored by all authorities."
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Con 2

Mandates are not the most effective way to ensure vaccine-hesitant parents vaccinate their children.

Because a high percentage of kids will already be vaccinated, or their parents are agreeable to additional vaccines, state school policies are necessarily directed toward parents and caregivers who are vaccine hesitant or whose children are under- or unvaccinated.

A 2019 study found "Vaccine-hesitant parents who are on the fence far outnumber vaccine refusers; therefore, counseling this group might be more effective," because mandates are not the best way to change peoples' minds about vaccines. The study found that "Practical tips for addressing parental vaccine hesitancy in primary care include starting early, presenting vaccination as the default approach, building trust, being honest about side effects, providing reassurance on a robust vaccine safety system, focusing on protection of the child and community, telling stories, and addressing pain."

The study concluded family physicians are a front-line resource in battling vaccine hesitancy: "Reasons behind vaccine hesitancy are complex and encompass more than just a knowledge deficit. As a trusted source of information on vaccines, family physicians play a key role in driving vaccine acceptance."

People of color and LGBTQ+ people have high rates of healthcare distrust due to current and historical medical mistreatment and discrimination, which can translate into vaccine hesitancy. As the Commonwealth Fund explained, "The medical establishment has a long history of mistreating Black Americans - from gruesome experiments on enslaved people to the forced sterilizations of Black women and the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study that withheld treatment from hundreds of Black men for decades to let doctors track the course of the disease." These concerns have continued into the modern medicine era and are applicable to other communities of color, including Hispanics and Native Americans. Offering education about vaccines would be a more effective and kind policy than mandates.
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Con 3

The government should not intervene in personal medical choices.

Medical decisions for children should be left to parents or caregivers. Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-founder of National Vaccine Information Center, stated, "If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biological products... there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow."

Ron Paul, former US Representative (R-TX), stated, "intimately personal medical decisions should not be made by government.... Freedom over one's physical person is the most basic freedom of all, and people in a free society should be sovereign over their own bodies. When we give government the power to make medical decisions for us, we in essence accept that the state owns our bodies."

Further, some vaccines contain ingredients some parents consider immoral or otherwise objectionable; mandates infringe on those sincerely held beliefs. For example, some DTaP/IPV/Hib combination, Hep A/Hep B combination, HepA, MMR, and chickenpox vaccines are cultivated in cells from two fetuses aborted in the 1960s (listed as MRC-5 and WI-38 on package inserts). The Catholic Church, in a report about using vaccines made using cells from aborted fetuses, indicated that "there is a grave responsibility to use alternative vaccines" to avoid the "evil" of actively or passively participating in anything that involves abortion.

And some vaccines for DTaP, Hep A, RV, Hib, HPV, IPV, flu, MMR, and chickenpox are made using animal products like chicken eggs, bovine casein, insect cells, Cocker Spaniel cells, pig gelatin, and cells from African Green monkeys, making those vaccines conflict with some vegetarian and vegan philosophies. Others consider it problematic that some vaccines are produced using human albumin, a blood plasma protein.
Read More

Did You Know?

1. All 50 states require vaccinations for children entering public schools even though no mandatory federal vaccination laws exist. All 50 states issue medical exemptions.

2. In 1855 Massachusetts passed the first US state law mandating vaccinations for schoolchildren, followed by New York (1862), Connecticut (1872), Indiana (1881), and Arkansas (1882).

3. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that childhood immunization prevented about 419 million illnesses, 26.8 million hospitalizations, and 936,000 early deaths of children born between 1994 and 2018.

4. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that "most childhood vaccines are 90%-99% effective in preventing disease."

5. Between Jan. 1 and May 20, 2019, there were 880 cases of measles in 24 states, costing taxpayers an estimated $42.2 million.

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School Vaccine Mandates - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org

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Proponents of school vaccine mandates say vaccines can save children's lives. Opponents say parents should choose their kids' medical care.

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Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child | Vaccines

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You want to do what is best for your children. You know about the importance of car seats, baby gates and other ways to keep them safe. But, did you know that one of the best ways to protect your children is to make sure they have all of their vaccinations?

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What are synthetic cannabinoids?

Synthetic cannabinoids are human-made mind-altering chemicals that are either sprayed on dried, shredded plant material so they can be smoked or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes and other devices. These products are also known as herbal or liquid incense.

These chemicals are called cannabinoids because they are similar to chemicals found in the marijuana plant. Because of this similarity, synthetic cannabinoids are sometimes misleadingly called "synthetic marijuana" (or "fake weed"), and they are often marketed as safe, legal alternatives to that drug. In fact, they are not safe and may affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana; their actual effects can be unpredictable and, in some cases, more dangerous or even life-threatening.

Synthetic cannabinoids are part of a group of drugs called new psychoactive substances (NPS). NPS are unregulated mind-altering substances that have become newly available on the market and are intended to produce the same effects as illegal drugs. Some of these substances may have been around for years but have reentered the market in altered chemical forms, or due to renewed popularity.

False Advertising

Synthetic cannabinoid products are often labeled "not for human consumption." Labels also often claim that they contain "natural" material taken from a variety of plants. However, the only parts of these products that are natural are the dried plant materials. Chemical tests show that the active, mind-altering ingredients are cannabinoid compounds made in laboratories.

Manufacturers sell these products in colorful foil packages and plastic bottles to attract consumers. They market these products under a wide variety of specific brand names. Hundreds of brands now exist, including K2, Spice, Joker, Black Mamba, Kush, and Kronic.

For several years, synthetic cannabinoid mixtures have been easy to buy in drug paraphernalia shops, novelty stores, gas stations, and over the internet. Because the chemicals used in them have no medical benefit and a high potential for abuse, authorities have made it illegal to sell, buy, or possess some of these chemicals. However, manufacturers try to sidestep these laws by changing the chemical formulas in their mixtures.

Easy access and the belief that synthetic cannabinoid products are "natural" and therefore harmless, have likely contributed to their use among young people. Another reason for their continued use is that standard drug tests cannot easily detect many of the chemicals used in these products.

How do people use synthetic cannabinoids?

The most common way to use synthetic cannabinoids is to smoke the dried plant material. Users also mix the sprayed plant material with marijuana or brew it as tea. Other users buy synthetic cannabinoid products as liquids to vaporize in e-cigarettes.

How do synthetic cannabinoids affect the brain?

Synthetic cannabinoids act on the same brain cell receptors as THC ( delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the mind-altering ingredient in marijuana.

So far, there have been few scientific studies of the effects of synthetic cannabinoids on the human brain, but researchers do know that some of them bind more strongly than marijuana to the cell receptors affected by THC, and can produce much stronger effects. The resulting health effects can be unpredictable and dangerous.

Because the chemical composition of many synthetic cannabinoid products is unknown and may change from batch to batch, these products are likely to contain substances that cause dramatically different effects than the user might expect.

Synthetic cannabinoid users report some effects similar to those produced by marijuana:

elevated mood

relaxation

altered perception-awareness of surrounding objects and conditions

symptoms of psychosis-delusional or disordered thinking detached from reality

Psychotic effects include:

extreme anxiety

confusion

paranoia-extreme and unreasonable distrust of others

hallucinations-sensations and images that seem real though they are not

What are some other health effects of synthetic cannabinoids?

People who have used synthetic cannabinoids and have been taken to emergency rooms have shown severe effects including:

rapid heart rate

vomiting

violent behavior

suicidal thoughts

Synthetic cannabinoids can also raise blood pressure and cause reduced blood supply to the heart, as well as kidney damage and seizures. Use of these drugs is associated with a rising number of deaths.

Are synthetic cannabinoids addictive?

Yes, synthetic cannabinoids can be addictive. Regular users trying to quit may have the following withdrawal symptoms:

Behavioral therapies and medications have not specifically been tested for treatment of addiction to these products. Health care providers should screen patients for possible co-occurring mental health conditions.

Points to Remember

Synthetic cannabinoids refer to a growing number of human-made mind-altering chemicals sprayed on dried, shredded plant material or vaporized to produce a high.

Synthetic cannabinoids are sometimes misleadingly called "synthetic marijuana" (or "fake weed") because they act on the same brain cell receptors as THC, the mind-altering ingredient in marijuana.

The effects of synthetic cannabinoids can be unpredictable and severe or even life-threatening.

The only parts of synthetic cannabinoid products that are "natural" are the dried plant materials. Chemical tests show that their active ingredients are human-made cannabinoid compounds.

Synthetic cannabinoid users report some effects similar to those produced by marijuana:

elevated mood

relaxation

altered perception

symptoms of psychosis

Synthetic cannabinoids can also cause serious mental and physical health problems including:

rapid heart rate

vomiting

violent behavior

suicidal thoughts

Synthetic cannabinoids can be addictive.

Behavioral therapies and medications have not specifically been tested for treatment of addiction to these products.

This publication is available for your use and may be reproduced in its entirety without permission from the NIDA. Citation of the source is appreciated, using the following language: Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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What are synthetic cannabinoids? Synthetic cannabinoids are human-made mind-altering chemicals that are either sprayed on dried, shredded plant material so they can be smoked or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes and other devices. These products are also known as herbal or liquid incense.

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Fake pot has a problem. Because people assume that pot is harmless, they also assume that synthetic pot is harmless. But that is a grave mistake.

Fake pot goes by several other names: Fake weed, synthetic marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids, K2, and spice. These drugs were created as a way for scientists to study the nervous system, but some people acquire them for recreational use. This is a terrible idea because their effect on the body is nothing at all like marijuana.

According to the CDC, a person who consumes fake pot could experience "rapid heart rate, vomiting, agitation, confusion, and hallucinations." Two years ago, a synthetic cannabinoid that was 85 times more potent than tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the active ingredient in marijuana) caused a " zombie outbreak" in New York City. Users were staring blankly and groaning, and 18 of 33 people were taken to the hospital.

It's not clear whether synthetic cannabinoids on their own have the ability to kill people. A recent report linked fake pot to the deaths of two soldiers, but that was based on incorrect information and was retracted. In an ongoing incident in Illinois, synthetic pot has caused severe bleeding and killed three people, but it was adulterated with rat poison.
A Rose by Any Other Name?
What is clear is that words matter. If a person consumes synthetic pot under the misguided notion that it is somehow similar to regular pot, he is in for a very rude surprise. Public health officials and the media should start referring to it by another name.

Of course, people who really want to take drugs are going to do so regardless of what they're called. This proposed name change is meant only to discourage those who might confuse synthetic pot with wacky tobaccy.

When the potheads who publish the magazine High Times -- which is dedicated to promoting the use of marijuana -- is warning against the dangers of fake weed, you know it's serious.

By Alex Berezow
Vice President of Scientific Affairs
Dr. Alex Berezow joined the American Council on Science and Health as Senior Fellow of Biomedical Science in May 2016. In December 2018, he became Vice President of Scientific Affairs.

Dr. Berezow is a featured speaker for The Insight Bureau, an international speakers' bureau. He also features twice weekly on the Kirby Wilbur Show, a Seattle area radio program, in a segment called "Real Science with Dr. B."

Dr. Berezow is a prolific science writer whose work has appeared in multiple outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC News, The Economist, Forbes, Scientific American, and USA Today, where he serves as a member of the Board of Contributors. He has authored or co-authored three books: The Next Plague and How Science Will Stop It (2018), Little Black Book of Junk Science (2017), and Science Left Behind (2012), which was an environmental policy bestseller.

Dr. Berezow has spoken to a wide variety of audiences about science, from graduate school seminars and church congregations to national TV and radio programs. Formerly, he was the founding editor of RealClearScience. He holds a Ph.D. in microbiology.

My books:

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Fake Pot: Synthetic Marijuana Is Dangerous. Change Its Name.

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Fake pot has a problem. Because people assume that pot is harmless, they also assume that synthetic pot is harmless. But that is a grave mistake. Fake pot goes by several other names: Fake weed, synthetic marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids, K2, and spice.

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Use of this relatively new drug tends to be more common among those people who think they might be tested for their drug use. So two groups that may use more of this drug than the general population include teenagers and members of the military. A few years ago, it was true that drug tests could not detect these drugs. But now many of them can be detected with updated drug tests.

There is still a problem with detection - the formulas constantly change. As one chemical is banned by the federal or state government, another chemicals, created by just changing a single molecule, hits the streets. This new formula might not show up on a drug test, even an updated one.

When a person reacts badly to this drug or takes too much (there's no recommended dosages) he (or she) may end up in the emergency room. Even if he can tell the doctors what he took, they may not know what's in that package. They will be trying to handle the following symptoms without knowing what he took:

* Nausea and vomiting
* Shortness of breath or depressed breathing
* Dangerously high blood pressure
* Abnormally high heart rate
* Chest pain
* Agitation and anxiety
* Inability to think clearly
* Suicidal thoughts
* Psychosis
* Kidney breakdown and failure

This is one of the reasons why this class of drug is so dangerous.

The other reason involves the phenomenal strength of these drugs. A new study from the University of Maryland and the National Institute on Drug Abuse just reported that these drugs can be between two and one hundred times stronger than actual marijuana. It is little wonder, then, that a person could have a psychotic episode or suffer organ breakdown and death after using one of them.

Synthetic marijuana has no chemical similarity to marijuana. Perhaps it was just a marketing gimmick someone developed when the chemical began to be sold. There is a similarity to the way the drug works in the brain and no other resemblance.

Please warn anyone who might be at increased risk of using these drugs, particularly young people, military and anyone else who might think they could be tested for drug use.

http://www.cadca.org/resources/detail/synthetics-such-k2-and-spice-have-effects-100-times-more-potent-natural-thc

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What Makes Synthetic Marijuana (Spice/K2) So Dangerous?

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Use of this relatively new drug tends to be more common among those people who think they might be tested for their drug use. So two groups that may use more of this drug than the general population include teenagers and members of the military.

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Despite dire warnings about the dangers of synthetic cannabinoids, popularly known by names such as K2, Spice, Black Mamba and Kronic, they continue to grow in popularity. Just yesterday, 33 people were rushed to the hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. with symptoms that suggested an overdose on the drugs, according to an NBC4 New York report. The city's health department told the station that there have been more than 6,000 K2-related emergency room visits and two confirmed deaths in New York City since 2015. In January, the American Association of Poison Control Centers listed 1,462 exposures.

To get a better understanding of what K2 is and why the drug is so dangerous, NBC News spoke with Marilyn A. Huestis, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and former chief of chemistry and drug metabolism at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

A: These are synthetic compounds that bind to the same receptor in the body and brain as THC, the most psychoactive ingredient in [marijuana]. In fact, they can have really different structures from THC. The first synthetic cannabinoids were actually produced legitimately as tools for us to investigate the pharmacology of the endogenous cannabinoid system. This system is important for critical functions such as temperature control, hunger and reproduction. It also plays very important roles in the brain for executive function, which is what we use to take in information from the environment, evaluate it, and determine a course of action. The researchers who figured out how make these synthetics published their findings in scientific journals and illicit manufacturers learned from those articles.
Q: So, if the drugs just mimic compounds that are not only found in marijuana, but are also naturally occurring in the body, what's the problem?
A: People are dying all the time from synthetic cannabinoids. They can be up to 100 times as potent as the THC in cannabis. Though this is a natural system in the body, marijuana or cannabinoids basically hijack the system and take over.
Q: Just how dangerous are these compounds - can they actually kill you?
We have learned that they can not only lead to death, but we have seen histories of kidney damage. They can destroy the kidneys so people may die or need to have dialysis and/or transplants. They can cause cardiovascular effects and can bring on heart attacks and strokes in the brain.
Q: What worries you most about these drugs?
A: It's frightening. I have studied drugs my whole life and what is so frightening is that so many young people are using these compounds. This is already a known problem with cannabis. We know that if you start before age 17 and you use it frequently, not occasionally, it affects the brain in a way in which the nerves in the brain connect during brain development. So it can reduce IQ and can permanently change the brain, which isn't fully developed until the end of one's 20s.

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Everything You Need to Know About K2, the Drug Blamed in Mass Overdose

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Despite dire warnings about the dangers of synthetic cannabinoids, popularly known by names such as K2, Spice, Black Mamba and Kronic, they continue to grow in popularity. Just yesterday, 33 people were rushed to the hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. with symptoms that suggested an overdose on the drugs, according to an NBC4 New York report.

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synthetic cannabinoids tied to fourth death in illinois - cnn

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Fourth death tied to 'fake weed' in Illinois

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More than 150 hospitalizations, including four deaths, are related to synthetic cannabinoids laced with rat poison in Illinois, according to health officials.

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After consuming what is suspected to be tainted synthetic marijuana, known as K2, more than 70 people overdosed Wednesday in New Haven, Conn. Last month, more than 300 people similarly overdosed in Washington, D.C. in a two-week period. The reported overdoses are offering a glimpse into a wrenching national problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is tracking multiple outbreaks across the country associated with synthetic cannabinoids use and The Food and Drug Administration recently warned of "severe illnesses and deaths" that have resulted from the use of contaminated synthetic marijuana products in recent months in several states.

Synthetics are a collection of man-made psychoactive chemicals that are sprayed on plant material. They are sold under several catchy brand names such as K2, Spice, AK-47, Mr. Happy, Scooby Snax, Kush and Kronic, according to the CDC. They come in shiny packages with bright logos - they could easily be mistaken for party favors. They are often made from a combination of legal components - but those combinations are proving deadly and are creating big challenges for the first responders, health workers and law enforcement.

The CDC received its first reports of sales of synthetic marijuana in 2004, and the department says use of the products has increased over the past several years in spite of increased legislation.
'Happening everywhere'
As a food delivery driver who zig-zags through Washington, D.C., David Barnett, 32, says he has seen that "overdoses are happening everywhere," - even in some of the more prosperous neighborhoods in the city.

"I've seen people overdosing in Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, the H Street corridor," he says. And recently he says he "saw paramedics helping a woman outside of Union Station."

"It's not just near homeless shelters," echoes Douglas Buchanan, spokesperson for the D.C. Fire and EMS Department.

Barnett says K2 has become popular because it's cheap and inconspicuous. K2 is now ubiquitous in the city, he says. "It's sold at gas stations, corner stores and tobacco shops" on the internet and on the streets, says Barnett. "I see the empty wrappers everywhere" he says.

Barnett says people on probation are using K2 because they believe it doesn't show up on urine tests. That's not necessarily true according to the Department of Forensic Sciences in D.C., but it's a popular belief out in the streets of the nation's Capital (more on this later.)

On a recent muggy summer day in Washington, D.C., Barnett wore a white sleeveless tank-top on his lunch break at a burger joint in the Northeast section of the city. This week the manager at that restaurant called paramedics after a customer started vomiting and passed out, typical signs of an overdose of K2.

When D.C. Fire and EMS responders get a phone call for help, Buchanan says, they often see multiple patients at each location. "They are lethargic, vomiting, often unconscious and just out of it," he says. Since July 14 this year his department has received 463 calls for suspected K2 overdoses. In that 12-day span, 340 patients were transported to area hospitals with symptoms of K2 ingestion, according to Buchanan.

Some people have also died over that time period in Washington, D.C. - while their specific causes of death have not been confirmed, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner "heavily suspects" they are related to K2 overdose. OCME's spokesperson says "there are deaths that are being investigated to determine if they are linked to the recent spike in K2 usage." Because toxicology takes some time, the official results are pending.

Overdose and death from K2 isn't new in Washington, D.C., although officials say its recent outbreak seems more deadly.

D.C. Fire and EMS says it transported 105 patients with suspected K2 overdoses to area hospitals in all of July last year and 597 patients in July 2016.

According to the CDC, synthetic cannabinoids are not the same as natural marijuana. But, the agents "are designed to stimulate the receptors in the brain that are also targeted by marijuana," says Tegan Boehmer, a senior research scientist at CDC's National Center for Environmental Health in Atlanta.

Boehmer says that since July 13, 2018, state health departments across the country have reported 255 cases, including eight deaths associated with synthetic cannabinoids that contain brodifacoum, an ingredient used in rat poison. "The contents of synthetic cannabinoid products can be unpredictable" says Boehmer. "The concentration of the active ingredient(s) can vary significantly between batches or even within the same batch," making the drugs very dangerous. Since March, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Maryland have reported the most cases. The CDC data don't include recent cases in Washington, D.C.
Cat-and-mouse
Often chemicals involved in a particular batch of synthetic cannabinoids are not banned, says Dr. Jenifer Smith. She's the director of the Department of Forensic Sciences in Washington, D.C. Even though the components are legal, she says, synthetic cannabinoids are dangerous, she says, "not just because of the chemicals [individually], but because of the mixture of chemicals."

That's one of the reasons that synthetic cannabinoids pose a cat-and-mouse scenario for law enforcement. Once a substance becomes illegal, the producers of synthetic cannabinoids switch the banned substance to a legal chemical.

Dr. Smith has been at the helm of the Department of Forensic Sciences since July 2015. For 23 years she was a special agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) - she has an easygoing manner, but is determined to drill down the message to her city that synthetic cannabinoids are dangerous. "When you go to a pharmacy you're buying a measured drug, it's regulated," she says. But with synthetic marijuana, "you have no idea what you're buying and it's not in any way controlled when it's made. It's very, very dangerous."

Dr. Smith's department in D.C. has a new lab, The Public Health Laboratory Division, where testing of controlled substances is done. "It makes a big difference" in collecting data and helping battle drugs in the city, she says, "we now have our own internal capabilities so we can do all these great testing methods." She says that "in the past any controlled substance collected in the District was tested by the DEA and only if the sample was going to be presented in court as evidence." So there would be delays or substances wouldn't be tested at all, "now we are able to test immediately and get results," getting answers to complex questions is very satisfying says Dr. Smith.

The Public Health Lab's data is also shared with local labs in order to inform the toxicologists who are testing urine samples as a condition of parole. Sometimes there is a newer form of drug in a batch and it may not be "seen" or detected even though the urine tests are now designed to cover a broad range of "metabolites" of these drugs, according Dr. Smith.

For instance, in this recent uptick of overdoses in the district, Dr. Smith says two types of synthetic cannabinoids have been identified by her staff consistently, "one of them we had seen before, but we did find a new one that we believe is new to the District" though it's been known by DEA since at least 2014. Both chemicals are controlled substances, says Dr. Smith.

Toxicologists at the Public Health Lab are able to identify and decipher what the original compound make up is, says Dr. Smith. But the challenge is if the compound is new, "how can you say that it is illegal even though it fits in this class of chemicals that are not healthy for somebody to take?" That's what law enforcement is up against, says Dr. Smith.
Different people, varying effects
For the last three years, the month of July has consistently seen the highest overdose spike in D.C. and Dr. Smith has a theory. "It may be somewhat related to the heat" she says that lack of hydration may increase the impact of the chemicals on the body, "people can exhibit different symptoms depending upon their predispositions to particular ailments" as well as "genetic susceptibilities that you may have if you're exposed to a chemical."

"Another challenge with synthetic cannabinoids is that the effect is broader both because of individual pre-dispositions and the mix of chemicals in a particular batch - which can potentially change from batch to batch," said Smith. "The effect [that K2] has on me may actually be different from the effect it has on you."

She says that for some, K2 may cause them to pass out and for other people the synthetic marijuana may just put them in an excited state.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says that large amounts of precursor raw material come from China, Mexico and India. But substances used to make synthetic cannabinoids are also procured here in the U.S. with some of the largest production clandestine labs based in Dallas, Miami and New York.

David Barnett, the food distribution driver and native Washingtonian, smiles easily, but his facial muscles tense suddenly when talking about this recent outbreak. "It's sad" to see what's happening in D.C. right now, he says. And though illegal drugs - from marijuana to heroin to crack - have been part of city life, he says of K2: "This one is crazy."

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America's Synthetic Marijuana Overdose Crisis, Explained

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After consuming what is suspected to be tainted synthetic marijuana, known as K2, more than 70 people overdosed Wednesday in New Haven, Conn. Last month, more than 300 people similarly overdosed in Washington, D.C. in a two-week period. The reported overdoses are offering a glimpse into a wrenching national problem.