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.
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| THC (Marijuana) and Synthetic
cannabis compounds designed to mimic its effects |
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Several types of
synthetic compounds available online.
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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.
