Synthetic Pot

[classicman]

ST. LOUIS — Seated at a hookah lounge in the Tower Grove district, Albert Kuo trained his lighter above a marbleized glass pipe stuffed with synthetic marijuana. Inhaling deeply, Mr. Kuo, an art student at an area college, singed the pipe’s leafy contents, emitting a musky cloud of smoke into the afternoon light.
Related

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Times Topic: Marijuana and Medical Marijuana

Mr. Kuo, 25, had gathered here with a small cohort of friends for what could be the last time they legally get high in Missouri on a substance known popularly as K2, a blend of herbs treated with synthetic marijuana.

“I know it’s not going to kill me,” said Mr. Kuo, who likened the drug’s effects to clove cigarettes. “It’s a waste of time, effort and money to ban something like this.”

On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, signed a bill prohibiting possession of K2. Missouri is the nation’s eighth state this year to ban the substance, which has sent users to emergency rooms across the country complaining of everything from elevated heart rates and paranoia to vomiting and hallucinations.

Investigators blame the drug in at least one death, and this month, Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas, a Democrat, signed an emergency order banning the substance. Similar prohibitions are pending in at least six other states, including Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Ohio, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“It’s like a tidal wave,” said Ward Franz, the state representative who sponsored Missouri’s legislation. “It’s almost an epidemic. We’re seeing middle-school kids walking into stores and buying it.”

Often marketed as incense, K2 — which is also known as Spice, Demon or Genie — is sold openly in gas stations, head shops and, of course, online. It can sell for as much as $40 per gram. The substance is banned in many European countries, but by marketing it as incense and clearly stating that it is not for human consumption, domestic sellers have managed to evade federal regulation.

“Everybody knows it’s not incense,” said Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. “That’s done with a wink and a nod.”

First developed in the lab of a Clemson University chemist, John W. Huffman, K2’s active ingredients are synthetic cannabinoids — research-grade chemicals that were created for therapeutic purposes but can also mimic the narcotic effects of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

In a statement, Mr. Huffman said the chemicals were not intended for human use. He added that his lab had developed them for research purposes only, and that “their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/us...1&ref=politics

Anyone heard about this? tried it? Is this along the lines of one of those designer type drugs where they kept changing one molecule so it was legal?

[glatt]

I'm sure it's not the healthiest thing to put into your body, but hey, it's still legal.

[toranokaze]

THC is the active ingredient in pot which is still illegal, thus, the synthetic pot should still be illegal.

Also some legislators have wised up to this trend and are now banning classes of compounds not just one at a time.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Nope, it's not THC. Just has a similar effect on people.

Synthetic cannabinoids, a structurally diverse class of mostly synthetic substances that bind to cannabinoid receptors.

[toranokaze]

I will have to look in to it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Uh, look into it? Oh, I get it... never know when the cops are reading.

[Gravdigr]

Gee, I wish I had something like weed, that was quasi-legal, potentially deadly, and that only cost eight times as much as weed.

[Cloud]

very contrary to hippie philosophy and spirit--only the natural stuff man!

[Gravdigr]

I prefer everything as natural as I can get it. Except breasts.

[wolf]

Given a choice between faux weed and an actual clove cigarette, I'll go for the clove. Mmmmm Djarums!

Only real problem with Djarums ... I always craved ham after I smoked one.

[JBKlyde]

I think that synthetic pot should be illegal... the only way a drug should be legal is if it were studied and approved...

[piercehawkeye45]

One of my friends tried K2 about a week ago and he said that he tripped hard and had a major freak out. Another said he was fine and had no problem with it.

Inconsistency is never good...

[classicman]

I dunno - the odds of both of them actually getting K2 is apparently the problem. Some of the shit out there being labeled as K2 simply put, isn't.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not everyone will react to the same drug/same dose, in the same way.

[TheMercenary]

Sooner or later the feds will catch up to it. Creative chemists did the same thing with LSD, MDA, and a bunch of other stuff. Tweak the formula a bit and it was not illegal. They put a stop to it. If it becomes widespread I would expect them to do the same.