Synthetic Cannabis May Pose an Even Greater Psychosis Risk

LogicSoDeveloped

LogicSoDeveloped

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The synthetic cannabis product known as Spice may pose a risk for psychosis in users, including those with no prior history of a psychiatric disorder, new research suggests.

A literature review, Internet sites, and even blogs spanning the past decade suggest that because it lacks the antipsychotic protective agents found in natural cannabis, Spice may pose an even greater risk of psychosis when compared with the natural product.

The results were presented here at the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) 22nd Annual Meeting & Symposium.

"I would tell clinicians that when there are unexplained causes of psychosis and urine tests are coming back negative, to keep in mind that it could be caused by synthetic cannabis such as Spice," lead author Carlos Alverio, MD, a 4-year psychiatry resident from Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, told Medscape Medical News.

"Also, just be aware that these substances are more potent than natural cannabis," added Dr. Alverio.

"Not for Human Consumption"

According to investigators, synthetic cannabis is often labelled as "herbal incense" and reportedly causes cannabis-like psychoactive effects. Its use led to hundreds of visits to emergency departments in 2010.

This blend of natural herbs contains the synthetic cannabinoid agonists CP-47497 and JWH-018, which have much higher binding affinities to the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors than does tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is found in natural cannabis. This stronger binding can lead to more potent effects.

The investigators also note that whereas natural cannabis contains cannabidiol, which is known to have antipsychotic properties, Spice does not.

Earlier this year, as reported by Medscape Medical News, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) not only temporarily banned the increasingly popular synthetic stimulants marketed as "bath salts" but also banned 5 chemicals found in synthetic cannabis products, such as Spice and K2. The banned chemicals included JWH-018 and CP-47497.

According to a news release from the DEA at the time of the ban, smokeable herbal products have become especially popular with teens and young adults because they are marketed as being legal while containing chemicals that supposedly mimic THC.

"These chemicals, however, have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption, and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process," writes the DEA.

"Young people are being harmed when they smoke these dangerous 'fake pot' products and wrongly equate the products' 'legal’ retail availability with being 'safe,' " added DEA administrator Michele M. Leonhart in the news release.

Paranoia and Hallucinations

Dr. Alverio said that it was because of the increasing number of baffling cases of psychosis being reported in emergency departments that his investigative team wanted to conduct this study.

"Clinicians found they didn't have a clear explanation for this. It seemed like a substance-induced psychotic disorder, but because the tests were coming back negative, there was a question of what was going on. So we wanted to start exploring these issues."

For the analysis, the investigators evaluated data from Medline on studies conducted from 2000 to 2011, as well as data from various Internet sources on personal experiences of using Spice.

"Articles [emphasized] chemical properties, psychotic vulnerability, and addictive properties of synthetic cannabis, and hypothetical comparisons to natural cannabis," explain the investigators.

In addition to reporting a "long-lasting high," Spice users also often reported "seeing things, hearing voices, and extreme paranoia."

Other symptoms that were reported in the 4 studies and that were found in Spice users between the ages of 20 and 40 years included anxiety, disorganization, and confusion. In addition, in 2 of these studies, those who reported psychotic symptoms also reported having no previous psychotic disorder.

The researchers note that more formal comparative studies are necessary to fully investigate the psychosis risk.

Raises Awareness

"This study was interesting because it increases awareness," Shaul Lev-Ran, MD, from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada, told Medscape Medical News.

"We all see this in clinical work; we're seeing more and more people coming in who take Spice, and we're reading more about effects, such as myocardial infarction or agitation. But there's not enough evidence yet about what's going on," said Dr. Lev-Ran.

He added that synthetic cannabis appears to be a public health concern, but more research-based data are needed.

"The fact that we see it in the clinic is important. But we need to ground it in research. And the more of these studies that we have, the better base we'll have for our clinical judgement."

When asked if he would call the use of Spice a "trend" (such as with so-called Bath Salts), Dr. Lev-Ran answered, "not yet." He added that there is often a lag between when something is actually happening and when a trend can be seen.

"Right now I think it's still in the case report zone and not considered an epidemic. But time will tell."
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source and the rest at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/755325
 
When asked if he would call the use of Spice a "trend" (such as with so-called Bath Salts), Dr. Lev-Ran answered, "not yet." He added that there is often a lag between when something is actually happening and when a trend can be seen.

"Right now I think it's still in the case report zone and not considered an epidemic. But time will tell."
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It is an epidemic, fool. You know very little about how many people are using Spice, K2, etc. every day.

If it is more dangerous than cannabis, legalize the natural plant.
Instead, they make everything illegal. Of course people are going to continue to search for a good high!

The ignorance of those with power is sickening.
 
It's amazing that the writers of this article are still at the point of saying there may be a greater risk. In the cannabis forum, this has been known since when when the JWHs came out...
 
^ Thats why when I smoked, and when I can again, I prefer indica. I always smoked to relax though I understand many enjoy or prefer sativa, sativas seem to give me the fear and amplify my anxiety...just like most of jwh compounds.

I read a post somewhere online by someone who thinks they should regulate and tax the synthetic cannabinoids blends. My response of course is they should just legalize the real thing. The real thing that happens to not be all over the news in reports of car accidents, seizures, health problems, etc.
 
Even more likely than not at all possible isn't really convincing.

It's unheard of for anyone that's mentally stable to get problems from cannabis use, anyone that gets a mental disorder already had something lurking.
 
The Network said:
Even more likely than not at all possible isn't really convincing.

It's unheard of for anyone that's mentally stable to get problems from cannabis use, anyone that gets a mental disorder already had something lurking.
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I suggest you check out the literature again.
 
jazz hands said:
It's amazing that the writers of this article are still at the point of saying there may be a greater risk. In the cannabis forum, this has been known since when when the JWHs came out...
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Here are a few things to think about.

In order to determine if it has a greater risk or not, you first need to define what risk is. Than you need to define a way to quantify the risk. Next, you need to a large enough study that the differences will be present, while accounting for other factors and other causation of morbidity and mortality. Your study needs to also simulate/examine the 'in the wild' usage of the two products.

A few issues with doing these studies off the top of my head. People may not admit to using a drug. People who present to the E.R. after an adverse drug reaction are not sorted or necessarily totally examined for the cause(s) of the problem. They are being treated for the clinically significant issues, not checking if 'Spice' has an interaction with something else, as an example. The class of synthetic Cannabinoid agonists is a large and diverse class of drugs. It will, in most cases, never be determined which one or ones specifically was involved, in the majority of adverse reactions.

Hence, its hard to say with a high level of confidence that one is more dangerous than another.

On a strictly personal and un-scientific note, I have a friend who attempted suicide as an adverse reaction to cannabis, but know no one who has had serious ill effects from anything synthetic. So from my own experience, I'd have to determine that cannabis is more dangerous.
 
This whole attitude of hatred toward synthetics is kinda irritating. I've been a heavy user of them in past, before I got off of juvenile probation and switched to heavy marijuana use, and I've dabbled since I got on adult probation.

I know people that hated on the synthetic stuff then got in trouble and were on it, no questions asked.

Cannabis is a psychedelic, I don't think its appropriate to look at it as anything less-definitely more, some strains have pain killing effects whereas others have a noted antidepressant effect-but at the end of the day, it can cause adverse reactions just like any other drug. Just because it isn't widely known for adverse reactions doesn't mean they don't exist.

It just isn't right to make any definitive calls on something so relatively new. It could cause cancer or be harmless physically. Who can say for sure? Mentally, we know the synths can cause adverse reactions but they wouldn't be the only drugs to do so.
 
I don't know about you, but personally for me, after vaping a fuckton of JWHs, I was puking bial. That shit doesn't happen with me on weed.

Moderation is definitely key with the synthetics.
 
i much prefer the synthetics, even though i get too high sometimes. I like both, legalize it all. For the same reasons cannabis should be legal; so should every other drug. Not to mention that things like am-2201 are pretty fun to smoke/vape without feeling paranoid about the smell of cannabis smoke.
 
DexterMeth said:
I don't know about you, but personally for me, after vaping a fuckton of JWHs, I was puking bial. That shit doesn't happen with me on weed.

Moderation is definitely key with the synthetics.
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I believe that moderation is the key with any drug, though admittedly it comes into play more so with the synthetics than like pot.
 
Haha, I've puked bile up many a times my good friend Dexter. Not on cannabis really, mostly IV cocaine, IV methamphetamine, IV MDA, IV d-amp (only did this a few times before realizing it wasn't worth it at all, really).

LogicSoDeveloped said:
I believe that moderation is the key with any drug, though admittedly it comes into play more so with the synthetics than like pot.
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Mostly due to the full agonist nature of most synthetic cannabinoids. There are probably some partial agonist synthetic canabinoids like BAY-59-3074.
 
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