Synthetic Cannabinoids.
We haven’t seen a lot of these products in western Canada but they are an issue in the east and certainly in the USA.
Often referred to as |spice” synthetic cannabinoids are exactly what that sounds like , a manufactured version of THC. They are proving to be dangerous, New Hampshire has declared a “state of emergency regarding these drugs. They have names like “Smacked” “Crazy Monkey” “BubbleGum” “Green Giant”
There have been a significant number of overdoses related to these products, generally heart are respiratory issues but also some delusional behavior issues as well.
As with a lot of things kids are using these because they are considered “safe” and the other problem is the belief that you can’t overdose on marijuana so this new stuff must be OK.
The real problem is that there are a lot of teens who are dependent on chemically altering themselves to feel OK. It doesn’t take long for it not to matter what the substance is as long as it changes how they feel.
An incident in St. Albert in September 2013, however, saw two teens found separately within a couple of hours of one another — 14 and 16 years old — who ended up in the hospital as a result of using synthetic cannabinoids.
“There are risks of abnormal heart rhythms, seizures — there are quite a few documented cases of hospitalizations with very severe illness leading to coma with them,”
In July 2013, Health Canada released that effects of using synthetic cannabinoids include “headaches, confusion, mood changes, nausea, anxiety, hallucinations, seizures, psychotic episodes and in some cases, death.”
Be careful out there.
