SPICE

Parents: Could your child be participating in a scary new fad? Spice may sound like a common household ingredient, but it’s a slang term for synthetic marijuana.

As a parent, if you’re not sure what to believe about marijuana, how will you handle the subject with your child? Maybe you smoked pot as a teen. Maybe you never tried pot, or you don’t even know what it looks like. Maybe you’re simply confused over conflicting claims about the whether marijuana is addictive. At some point, you will find yourself in the position of having to take a stand. The issue of marijuana is not going away.



The latest trend at teen parties isn't warm beer or prescription medicines pilfered from parents' medicine cabinets. Instead, increasing numbers of youths are turning to an herb-based product to get high, and unlike marijuana, it's perfectly legal.

It's known as K2 or Spice, a synthetic substance that, when smoked, gives users a marijuana-like high, according to drug authorities. Its growing popularity is causing increasing alarm among health care professionals, law enforcement authorities and lawmakers, with one Drug Enforcement Agency official calling its use the equivalent of "playing Russian roulette."

Manufactured in Asia and sold online or in local stores, K2 and similar substances are marketed as herbal incense. A disclaimer on a K2-selling Web site reads: "K2Herbal products are novelty incenses and are not for consumption."

Sold in various flavors in 3-gram bags, the product consists of herbs that are sprayed with synthetic substances that mimic THC, the high-causing natural chemical found in marijuana.



A call to regulate K2

Health and drug officials say the danger in using such products is the unregulated nature of their production and makeup.

"Our biggest concern is that this particular chemical is likely manufactured in a dorm-room setting. And these dorm-room scientists are not going to be exhibiting a lot of quality assurance techniques," says Dr. Gaylord Lopez, a toxicologist and head of the Georgia Poison Center.

As a result, there's a potential for users to inhale contaminants along with the substance they think they're smoking, Lopez said, which may be a contributing factor in the adverse symptoms some of its users have been experiencing.



Political activist wants K2 banned

"Synthetic drugs and herbal drug products like Spice and K2 are not made in a controlled environment and thus you are playing Russian roulette when it comes to these types of products," said Dawn Dearden, a spokeswoman for the DEA, which first began receiving reports about abuse of the substance last year. "There is no way, outside of a controlled laboratory environment, to determine the chemical makeup, synthetic ingredients or amounts, and therefore there is no way to determine with any accuracy what the potentially harmful effects may be."

You are playing Russian roulette when it comes to these types of products.

CHECK OUT THIS STORY:
http://tinnitustreatmentquestions.com/truth-about-legal-high-spice-side-effects-isnt-safe.html


ANOTHER STORY:
collin says:


March 30, 2010 at 2:36 pm

i just got out of the hospital yesterday from smoking spice. i smoke some at a friends house, passed out, smashed my face on the cement floor, broke 2 teeth and started having seizures. i was airlifted to the hospital (i actually flat lined on the helicopter) where i was put in intensive care till the next morning. my parents were told i wasnt gonna make the helicopter ride. this shit almost killed me. there is no way to actually know whats in it and how much is in it. this shits poison and i highly recommend no one try it. my story is not a joke. im not a anti-drug activist trying to keep weed illegal. im just trying to use my story to help others and to keep them from having the same experiance as i have.

ONE MORE STORY:
Jimbo says:


May 24, 2010 at 5:29 am

LISTEN UP IMPORTANT: Collin I 100% believe your story. Tonight i smoked this stuff called Mojoeaux which is spice. I ripped just one bong pack with a friend at about 9:30 pm. Within 30 mins of smoking it i knew something was going horribly wrong with my body. I began to have a heavy pressure sensation in my head while my ears began to fade and pop. My perception was Spontaneous; at times i thought everyting was 2D and others i would look at something and it looked like it was deep and neverending. I thought i was going to pass out MULTIPLE TIMES but i snapped myself out of it by jumping out of my seat and shaking my head frantically. I felt all of my senses leave my body at times and the left side of my body (MAINLY ARM) fell asleep. NOW FOR THE SCARY PART! at one point i began to lose control of my legs and arms, they started to shake slowly then got really fast, my eyes started to roll upwards and my mouth began to open. Then it stopped after a minuet of this. (PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME OUT ON THIS: i have never experienced a seizure but when you have one do you know whats going on mentally? Because i did, i knew i was shaking but could not stop. Throughout this whole time my heart was beating very fast and my chest region had such a distinct pain like i have never ever felt! I thought i could be having something like a heart attack or maybe even a stroke! My friend was so scared ( i have known him for 14 years, done some crazy shit with him and i have never seen him so worried.) I told him many times I felt like i was dying and he wanted to take me to the hospital but I decided to wait and see if i could beat the STUPID drug called spice. Finally it got so bad that he helped me out of his house walked me down the strreet and put me in my own bed where i layed until i fell asleep. I woke up and here I am now writing this story. I still feel very awkward and my chest has pains in it randomly. I decided to google spice and see if anyone had a similar experience as mine. Collin your story was Frightenly similar to mine. I WILL NEVER EVER SMOKE ANY SYNTHETIC WANNABE DRUG EVER AGAIN! WHATEVER THEY PUT IN THE EXTRACT IS NOT SAFE FOR HUMANS! I TRULY BELIEVE IN MY HEART THAT IT F***S YOU IN THE LONG RUN WHETHER ITS BREEDING ABNORMAL KIDS, OR DYING OF A RARE DISEASE BROUGHT ON BY THE HUMAN MADE CHEMICALS PUT IN SPICE. PEOPLE PLEASE THINK LOGICALLY BEFORE TAKING THE DRUG BECAUSE YOUR SMOKING SOMETHING THAT YOU LITERALLY HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT ( ONLY THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING).


ANOTHER STORY

Jason says:

June 2, 2010 at 11:36 pm

my son was just released from the hospital last night after having a seizure due to smoking spice. just so you know there are no long term studies done on spice as it is a new fad. Everyone can say I havnt had anything happen to me!!! But give it time and you could be the next one being released from the hospital….or not!!!!




MORAL OF THE STORY IS:  DO NOT DO SPICE!!!!