Synthetic Pot (Kronic) Sends Thousands to Hospital : US Report

Posted By Drug Test Australia

The Drug Abuse Warning Network says drugs like Spice and K2, marketed as legal, fake pot and labelled as herbal incense, are sending teenagers and young adults to emergency rooms around the country.

In 59% of the cases, doctors found no other substance, differing from most emergency department visits involving illicit drugs.



K2, Spice and other synthetic drugs that mimic a marijuana high sent 11,406 people -- mostly teenagers and young adults -- to the emergency room in 2010, according to the first report on the substances from the federal government's Drug Abuse Warning Network.

The report, the first to analyse the impact of the popular herbal incense, found that children ages 12 to 17 accounted for a third of the emergency room visits. Young adults ages 18 to 24 accounted for an additional 35%.

In 59% of the cases involving patients ages 12 to 29, doctors found no other substance, differing from most emergency department visits involving illicit drugs and painkiller abuse.

Marijuana, the most popular illicit drug with 18 million regular users, sent 461,028 people to the emergency room in 2010.

"This report confirms that synthetic drugs cause substantial damage to public health and safety," Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske said.

Spice and K2, marketed as legal, fake pot and labelled as herbal incense, emerged in 2009 as popular drugs among teens and college students, who could buy the substances online and in convenience stores.

Problems quickly emerged. Doctors reported teenagers arriving in the emergency room with high fevers and strange behaviour.

Police in Nebraska in 2010 arrested a teenage boy who had smoked Wicked X, herbal incense coated with synthetic Cannabinoids  The teen careened his truck into the side of a house and then continued driving.

At least 18 states outlawed the substances and the Drug Enforcement Administration instituted an emergency ban. In July, Congress banned sales of K2, Spice and other synthetic drugs under the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act.

By Donna Leinwand Leger 

December 8, 2012 8:52AM

Original http://www.cio-today.com/news/Synthetic-Pot-Sickens-Thousands/story.xhtml?story_id=020002GO886G&full_skip=1

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Lack of testing leads to Kronic problem: NZ Emergency Doctor

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Original; Emma Dawe, The Southland Times; http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/5264514/Lack-of-testing-leads-to-Kronic-problem-emergency-doctor

An emergency physician believes people are using party drugs, including Kronic, under the misguided belief they have been rigorously tested by authorities.

Paul Gee, from Christchurch Hospital, said that was not the case at all and party drugs were actually in a "twilight zone" between legal and illegal drugs because they were not covered by legislation.

"They're not a named drug covered by legislation. Nor are they a food, so they escape legislation covering foods.

"They're being slickly marketed and people are buying them not realising they've never been tested before in humans."

Speaking at the winter symposium of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine held in Queenstown yesterday, Dr Gee called for the onus to be put on manufacturers to prove new psychotropic drugs were safe.

"At present we have to wait until people reach intensive care before there is any action."

The herbal ingredients in the products were mixed with unlisted synthetic Cannabinoids that had been declared illegal in some countries but were unregulated in New Zealand.

Dr Gee said he was seeing more patients affected by the drugs – those patients were showing symptoms similar to those of people using cannabis, such as drowsiness, increased heart rate and feelings of euphoria.

Those symptoms were what doctors had expected, but what was not expected were the amphetamine-type symptoms some party drug users were displaying, including seizures, he said.

"We've seen some people probably close to unconsciousness," he said.

While it was too soon to determine what the long-term effects of using the drugs were, Dr Gee said there was evidence prolonged cannabis use could lead to long-term memory loss, and there was no reason why that would not be the case for the prolonged use of party drugs.

Dr Gee said his main concern was nobody had done any scientific research on the drugs.

While any new food or medicine was stringently tested before being licensed for consumption in New Zealand, the chemicals in these substances were not.

"It basically amounts to experimentation but without the upside of gathering any information."

Meanwhile, former Central Otago District Mayor Malcolm Macpherson is calling for people to join him in a footpath demonstration outside the only shop in Alexandra selling Kronic – C&C Traders.

Mr Macpherson said there was no justification for the owner to sell Kronic, and other products that exposed the community to health risks.

C&C Traders owner Bill Clements said he was being "pushed into a corner" for no reason, as the products were not to blame for the problems parents were having with their teenagers.

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Rise of Synthetic Drugs in Australia; Implications

Posted by Drug Test Australia

 

There has been recent media and government attention paid to the rise in the prevalence of use, sales and manufacture of Synthetic Drugs, such as Synthetic Marijuana (‘Kronic’ and like products) and Synthetic Stimulants (i.e. Synthetic Cocaine, Synthetic Amphetamines and Synthetic MDMA [Ecstasy]) among other harmful substances.

Of particular concern to employers in Australia, is that these types of drugs cannot be screened for in traditional drug tests; only by drug tests that specifically test for these substances.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, has released a report raising concerns over the great quantity of these substances available; with a total of 49 new psychoactive substances officially notified for the first time in 2011. Preliminary data shows over 50 new substances already detected for 2012. This is of concern to the Australian market, as these items can easily be purchased online and sent to Australia, from retailers residing overseas.

http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/news/2012/10

Queensland Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Jarrod Bleijie has proposed changes to the Drugs Misuse Act, that would include a plethora of synthetic drugs, with similar effects to presently illegal drugs to be made illegal.

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2012/11/18/government-clamps-down-on-synthetic-drugs

The main issue faced is that drug ‘manufacturers’ aim to stay one step ahead of legislation and are constantly changing and developing the contents and make-up of these substances.

We must be vigilant and stay on top of this phenomenon, as impairment from these substances poses a significant safety risk in workplaces; effective testing is the only way to limit risk.

For more information, please see our blog articles below, or contact us about our synthetic marijuana testing kits.

http://drugtestaustraliablog.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/new-type-of-synthetic-cannabis-new-type.html

http://drugtestaustraliablog.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/synthetic-cannabis-frequently-asked.html

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Email; Sales@drugtestaustralia.com.au
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New types of Synthetic Cannabis; Report

A new type of Synthetic Cannabis called 'Venom' was seized last week in Perth by West Australian Police. Typically, Synthetic Cannabinoids (marketed as 'legal highs', 'incense' or 'herbal highs') contain one or more compounds that mimic some effects of cannabis.

This report looks at this phenomenon in Australia, and attempts to offer information to provide a deeper understanding of the issues at play, and the trends that we are seeing in the local community and internationally.

Originally developed through research and then named for its developer John W. Huffman (JWH numbered compounds), the most common of which is named JWH-018. John Huffman professor emeritus of organic chemistry at Clemson University, beginning in 1984, developed many cannabinoid compounds to aid in medical research. It was not his wish that they be used for recreational purposes. HU-210 first synthesized in at Hebrew University in 1988 is purportedly up to 800 times the strength of natural THC from cannabis, a potent analgesic, it is one of the 8 other variants developed at this time. CP 47,497 developed by Pfizer in the 1980’s is another cannabinoid compound, developed for research. North-eastern University also synthesised cannabinoid compounds, listed as AM, such as AM-2201.

In later years, starting in Germany in 2003, these compounds began to be sold as marijuana alternatives. The laws in Australia vary from state to state, with some such as WA having a harsher standpoint.

They can currently in NSW be purchased from Tobacconists, Adult Stores and Online Retailers (in small or large quantities) among others. They are sold as herbal incense, and often come with a disclaimer, Warning; Not for human consumption.

Typically the synthetic compound is sold online in powder form, it is then combined with other ingredient  including organic materials to make a 'blend' of plant material/inert herbs, that is sold retail and wholesale both legally and illegally, that can be smoked by users, much like Marijuana.

In recent years, the laws have changed state to state, and online retailers will only send certain brands contain non-listed chemicals, to certain areas. A way of circumventing this law is through changing of the active ingredients.

JWH-018 and JWH-073 are some of the more common compounds used in these products to date.

New synthesized blends of this product, including the drugs seized in Perth, contained these two compounds, AM-2201 and XLR-11. XLR-11 is now banned under New Zealand law. 

THC (Marijuana) and Synthetic cannabis compounds designed to mimic its effects

Several types of synthetic compounds available online.

These chemical compounds can be bought on the Internet from companies claiming to reside in the US and elsewhere, and are sold as 'research chemicals'. They are then combined with organic materials and distributed under different brand names, by wholesalers and retailers nationally.

The part which makes it difficult to police, legislate and difficult to screen in workplace situations, is that these companies have a vested interest in keeping their products ‘legal’ and ahead of state and federal legislation. This means none of these products are very static, having to be regularly rebranded, and the ingredients slightly changed to keep up with legislation changes.

The effect has been that some brands of synthetic marijuana are being redeveloped with synthetic compounds that are not yet classified, or have not been seen before. For example AB-001, is a designer drug, we have no information on who developed it, but that was discovered to be used in synthetic smoking blends in Europe in 2010-2011.

In truth, these types of substances are available online to anyone that wants to purchase them, and will be sent to by post to anywhere that they are willing to be sent to, including major cities, small towns and remote mining locations, anywhere. Typical THC drug tests (urine or saliva) will NOT pick up these substances, though currently urine tests (such as K2 Spice) are available in Australia that are designed to screen for a range of these compounds.

Any person involved in Drug testing or drug education should keep up with the latest developments in drugs of abuse in the community. Only through informed discussion can gain a better, unbiased view of the current situation, and put in place measures to deal with these issues.

If you would like more information on this subject, please contact us at www.drugtestaustralia.com.au or email sales@drugtestaustralia.com.au or Phone 1300 660 636