'Fake Marijuana'

[Jolie Rouge]

May Trigger Heart Trouble in Teens
By Jenifer Goodwin HealthDay Reporter | Tue, Nov 8, 2011 11:48 PM EST

(HealthDay News) -- Three teenage boys suffered heart attacks after smoking K2, a form of synthetic marijuana, according to a new case report.

During the span of a few weeks last fall, Dr. Colin Kane, a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, was surprised when the teens, all aged 16, were admitted with chest pain. Chest pain -- and heart attacks especially -- are very unusual in teens, so doctors at first suspected a virus. But electrocardiograms, which measure the heart's electrical activity, and blood tests that measure levels of a protein called troponin (high levels are a telltale sign of heart attack), showed that two of the boys had indeed had heart attacks.

The tests for a third boy were inconclusive at first, but while he was in the hospital his chest pain got much worse, and subsequent tests showed he, too, had suffered a heart attack.

All had reported smoking both marijuana and K2 between a day and a few weeks before the attack, said Kane, who is also assistant professor of pediatrics and a cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. The case reports are published in the December issue of Pediatrics.

Dr. Anthony Scalzo, chief of toxicology at St. Louis University and medical director of the Missouri Poison Center at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, said it's difficult to prove that K2 caused the heart attacks. Only one boy had a urine test for K2 and that came up negative, which isn't surprising since the drug has a short half-life in the body, Scalzo explained. All the boys came up negative for other drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, but it's still possible the boys may have been using other illicit drugs or taking steroids and lied about it.

"This article raises additional concerns about the toxicity of K2 and newer synthetic cannabinoids that are out in the market," Scalzo said. "Youth and parents should be warned about the dangers of these substances and that in any given case it is like a game of Russian roulette. You might be the next case report of a serious seizure, mental health crisis or perhaps a premature heart attack."

K2 and "Spice" are often marketed as incense and sold in packets of herbs that are laced (often sprayed) with synthetic marijuana at "head shops" and online. The drug also goes by other names, including Spice Gold, Spice Diamond, Yucatan Fire, Solar Flare, Genie, PEP Spice and Fire n' Ice, according to the U.S. Drug Intelligence Center.

While people who smoke K2 are seeking a marijuana-like high, there have been many previous reports of young people going to the emergency room because of agitation, anxiety, racing heartbeat and elevated blood pressure, Scalzo said.

The drug itself was developed in the mid 1990s in the lab of John Huffman, a Clemson University chemist, who was conducting U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse-supported research on cannabinoids. The chemical, which he called JWH-018 and JWH-073, was similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, only more potent. "These compounds were not meant for human consumption," Huffman said. "Their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects. They absolutely should not be used as recreational drugs."

Since 2009, increasing numbers of reports from poison centers and hospitals of kids becoming ill from smoking K2 prompted at least 16 states and some counties to outlaw K2. In March, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used its "emergency scheduling authority" to make possessing or selling JWH-018 and four other similar chemicals illegal. "The temporary scheduling action will remain in effect for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services further study whether these chemicals should be permanently controlled," a DEA statement said.

Kane agreed that he can't say for sure that it was the K2 that caused the heart attacks. He also doesn't know if all the boys smoked the same batch. But he suspects the drug caused the coronary arteries that bring blood to the heart to spasm temporarily, cutting off blood supply. And because the drugs are unregulated, "who knows what else these drugs could be contaminated with?" he said.

Since their heart attacks, the boys have recovered, although one who played high school football was devastated when Kane told him he'd have to sit out the season.

Texas has since banned K2.

"It still easy to get," Kane said. "I just saw a kid this week . . . who had smoked K2 and was having chest pain, palpitations, headaches and trouble breathing."

http://gma.yahoo.com/fake-marijuana-may-trigger-heart-trouble-teens-140208742.html

[Jolie Rouge]

Side effects of synthetic pot -- aka 'Spice' -- may be missed by ER docs
By Linda Thrasybule - MyHealthNewsDaily

Teens who use synthetic marijuana, also called K2 or spice, could end up in the emergency room experiencing some serious side effects, according to a new case report.

Researchers looked at three cases of teens admitted to the emergency room who they suspect were using synthetic marijuana.

In each case, they found that teens showed signs of unexpected behaviors, ranging from agitation and increased sweating to an inability to speak and hallucinations.

"These drugs are unregulated," said study co-author Dr. Joanna Cohen, a pediatric emergency physician at the Children's National Medical Center. "Symptoms can be unpredictable because the drug is mixed with other types of chemicals and substances."






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"It's important to be able to recognize the signs of drug use and be on the look out with teenagers," Cohen said. But because synthetic marijuana products vary enormously in terms of the ingredients they contain, recognizing the signs of use may be especially difficult.

The report is published today (March 19) in the journal Pediatrics.

Early drug use post threat to teens' brain

Synthetic marijuana contains a blend of plants and herbs which are then sprayed with an active ingredient, such as JWH-018, a synthetic cannabinoid. The active ingredients are similar to cannabis in that they give a marijuana-like high.

The ingredient JWH-018 and four chemicals similar to it were declared controlled substances by the Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2011. However, there are other variations of the drug that remain legally available at convenience stores, gas stations and on the Internet.

It has grown increasingly popular over the past several years. In 2011, poison control centers reported handling nearly 7,000 calls about K2, nearly double the calls they received in 2010.

Using drugs at an early age can have serious consequences, Cohen said. "Particularly for teenagers, drug use could pose a serious threat to the developing brain like memory loss or psychosis," she said.

Different mixtures come with different side effects

The case report includes three teens who arrived at the emergency room showing signs of abnormal behavior.

One 16-year-old girl was catatonic, unable to speak or respond to any touch, when she arrived in the emergency room. A urine drug test showed she had cannabinoids in her system.

Another teen, a 16-year-old boy, had problems with movement and trouble with his speech. Although he was alert, he seemed confused, and could only answer simple questions.

And an 18-year-old boy was brought to the emergency room agitated and excessively sweating. He was restless, aggressive and uncooperative.

All three teens were treated with anti-anxiety or anti-histamine medications that seemed to help with their symptoms. They recovered from their states.

Cohen and colleagues said the movement disorders seen in the 16-year-olds were unusual. But because synthetic marijuana products vary widely, and can contain many chemicals and substances, there is no way to determine which ingredients may have caused these effects.

Still popular even though it's not safe

Whether each teen was using synthetic marijuana was not confirmed in the case report, noted Dr. Aaron Schneir, a toxicologist at the University of California in San Diego who was not involved with the report.

There is a growing body of evidence reporting the complications of synthetic marijuana, Schnei said, but it's still not known how many people are using it and not having complications. "I'm not suggesting that the drug is safe," he said, "but there's probably a number of people out there using the drug and having a good time."

This could explain why the drug continues to be popular. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 11 percent of nearly 15,000 high school seniors surveyed reported using K2 in 2011. "Parents should talk to their children about this drug," said Schneir. "You have no idea what you're getting when you use it."

Editor's note: This story was updated on March 19 to provide more precise information about the ingredients in synthetic marijuana.
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/19/10759284-side-effects-of-synthetic-pot-aka-spice-may-be-missed-by-er-docs

comments

How about we just legalize the real stuff and avoid this nonsense all together?

There is not one public safety, economic, or health reason for keeping it illegal that is not as bad, or worse, than alcohol being legal.

Secondly, the impact on state revenue, justice system savings, and impact on terrorism would be a massive boon for us. Given all this, legalization is the proverbial 'no-brainer'.

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Legalize marijuana, the safest recreational intoxicant known to mankind?

Oh, we could never have that. That would just make too much sense.

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The "war on drugs" is too lucrative to some politicians and their pay masters like the corporations that build and operate prisons.

Don't forget about the pharmaceutical lobby. They make billions every year pedaling synthetic pain relivers and anti-depressants. They're the ones who feed our politicians the "needs more study" line every time there's a discussion about the legalization of marijuana.

Marijuana has been used by humans for centuries. The "field tests" have been going on for longer than any test the pharmaceutical companies are required to complete for their synthetic concotions.

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These are teenagers using the drug--whether legal or not. Alcohol and tobacco are still illegal for sale to minors.

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This article is frightening. If marijuana were legal to use, we'd still have to keep it out of the hands of the under-aged and those who would abuse it. Simply making it legal wouldn't solve all our problems, but it would remove or reduce the idiocy of synthetic marijuana usage.

Who would use a synthetic if the real thing were available?

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Here is how it is, it is the same with anything, different people have different things that they can just click with. People drink, smoke, and do lots of other things. Some people can handle their liquor, while also being moderate enough to stay healthy, it just clicks with some people. Others can smoke marijuana and do great, while other people freak out on it like they took LSD or speed or any other drug that wires you up. People are different and always have been. However, just because a person want to do something or likes doing it does not mean that they can handle it. There is someone I know that loves alcohol and can drink loads. They can handle the harshness of any liquor and can drink it pretty fast. The person does not like beer, but I swear that they can put away hard liquor as if it was liquid candy. The only problem is the person gets to drunk because they do not know when to stop or how much it takes to get them to a certain level, they just drink. It was good that they admitted a little while back that they could not handle alcohol and stopped.

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No one shows up in the ER after smoking the actual marijuana. ( Maybe the Quik-E-Mart )