Some of these substances may have been around for years but have reentered the market in altered chemical forms, or due to renewed popularity. Synthetic cannabinoid products are often labeled "not for human consumption. 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. 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.
The most common way to use synthetic cannabinoids is to smoke the dried plant material. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Grant Smith. Share this on:. More Opinion. Most Popular. Fine art from an iPhone? The best Instagram photos from After IVF shock, mom gives birth to two sets of identical twins.
Inside North Korea: Water park, sacred birth site and some minders. What really scares terrorists. K2 affects the same area of the brain as cannabis weed , but it contains chemicals made in laboratories and sprayed onto dry leaves. These chemicals are not derived from the cannabis plant.
In New York State, it is illegal to possess, sell, offer to sell, or manufacture synthetic cannabinoids. The use of synthetic marijuana is on the rise and can be bought in corner shops everywhere. She thought she was doing the right thing by sticking with K2, her drug of choice.
While she is neither dealt daily nausea from withdrawal as with heroin users , nor risking arrest for drug paraphernalia as with crack users , she is the only one in her peer group who seizes, and the only one whose drug produces a range of widely differing and often unknown effects.
The packages she favors seem child-sized, smaller than Ziploc sandwich bags. Major cities, too, have noticed a rise in use. On an international level, in the DEA launched a project to combat the spread of K2 and other synthetic drugs like it.
She may get arrested for possessing marijuana and harder drugs, but not for this. In her early days on the streets, pre-K2, she was lithe, with thick, winged eyeliner and electric tights.
Her presence, cheerful, bounding, wild in gesture and loud in volume, was both innocent and magnetic, drawing her easy friendships. Her stance away from hard drugs made her alluring to those who had been in the neighborhood a while. Everyone presumed this stance was a show, but over time it became apparent that it was simply truth. On this point, she was stubborn and relentless.
She would be different; she would not get stuck out on the street for years. She would make a functional life, starting with her dream of finding real, lasting love with a decent man. Within a week or so of her arrival in the Bronx, Beauty found who she hoped would be a boyfriend fitting her ideal.
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