Fake Marijuana May Be Endangering Young People Who Think it is Safe and Natural
Today’s young people are forced to make complex decisions regarding drug use and most of them lack the knowledge to do so wisely. To make matters worse, the list of drugs being offered to them keeps getting longer. Once it was marijuana, cocaine, heroin, alcohol and a couple of prescription drugs that young people might choose from. Now chemists around the world keep adding new substances they’ve cooked up in the lab to the existing substances that one can abuse.
Some of these substances are pharmaceutical drugs like hydrocodone and OxyContin. And some are what are termed “club drugs”—drugs mostly used in party or nightclub settings. A new drug poses particular threats to those who might want to abuse marijuana but don’t want to have that drug show up on a drug test administered by an employer or parent. That new drug is labeled with many different names, packaged in small foil envelopes and sold at head shops and alternative lifestyle supply stores.
Common names for this new drug include “Spice,” “K2” and “Blaze.” The contents of these foil packages look like potpourri and the package may say it is supposed to be used as incense. But anyone buying it knows that it is intended to be smoked for its intoxicating effects. It is considered by many to be a fake marijuana as when things go well, it might give a high similar to weed. If things go wrong, a person could be trapped in an uncontrollable, paranoid hallucination.
This fake marijuana was legal for quite a long time after it started being abused in many parts of the US, but in 2011, the DEA utilized its emergency powers to ban the drug until local legislation could catch up with laws outlawing its sale and use.
Is It Really “Natural”?
As a gimmick to increase sales, this product may be labeled “natural” and “undetectable” meaning it probably will not show up on a drug test. But whatever the claims are, it has created damage and addiction in those who chose to abuse it. The lucky ones just experienced a euphoria similar to marijuana. The unlucky ones suffered extreme anxiety, hallucinations, even life-threatening seizures.
The drug is thought to have its effect on the central nervous system. It can cause the blood flow to the heart to reduce, resulting in heart attacks in some users. Some users vomit and become agitated and confused. A person who uses the drug regularly can become addicted and suffer withdrawal symptoms if they try to quit.
Despite its dangers, more than one in ten high school seniors has abused this drug, according to the 2011 Monitoring the Future survey.
Narconon Drug Rehabilitation Can Help the Person Addicted to Spice
When a person loses his (or her) sobriety to Spice, he needs effective help to bring about lasting recovery. Short-term programs too often result in repeated trips to rehab, as they do not help the recovering person repair the damage done by addiction. Every person who becomes addicted has suffered losses to personal integrity and self-respect. They have come to rely on a substance to get them through life, instead of having the skills themselves to deal with lady-to-day challenges. The Narconon drug rehabilitation program works to bring the synthetic marijuana abuser all the way back to stable sobriety in its long-term program that is residential in most locations.
The program includes a tolerable, nutritionally-supported withdrawal step, a sauna-based detoxification program and an array of life skills courses. On these courses, the recovering person learns such skills as how one’s personal integrity can be restored and how rational solutions can be decided on and put into place.
Find out how the Narconon drug rehabilitation program can help someone you care about who has become dependent on Spice or other drugs.
Sources:
®