Spice, Synthetic Marijuana Chelsey Naylor

…Aka Spice

Introduction  Undetectable synthetic form of marijuana  Dried/shredded plant material with chemical additives  Inhaled via “joints”, pipes, etc.

Spice Usage

Effects on the Brain  Chemicals attaches to THC receptors in the brain  Can have stronger effects than THC molecule  Physiologically causes an increase in dopamine

Acute Effects  Similar to the effects of marijuana  Can elicit:  High blood pressure  Nausea  Vomiting  Anxiety  Agitation  Seizures.

Chronic Effects  Lack of research and the “newness” of Spice  Reported that it can induce:  Psychosis  Suicidal ideations

Overall Effects on Body

Who does spice?  Homeless population  Members of the Armed Forces  People wanting a “legal” high  Kids who have access to smoke shops

Spice at the Smoke Shop

The “Legal” High  Undetectable on a 10 panel drug test  Spice is not THC  Costly to test for

Legal Ramifications  If tested positive, could loose your job  In Utah, HB23 bans the sale, possession, and manufacture of “spice”

Easy to Obtain  Early Pzfizer researchers derived first spice strands  Sold in local smoke shops  Chemical compounds are frequently altered  Disguised as incense or potpourri

Discrete Packaging

Poison Control Statistics  2009 first reports were received  2012, 5,230 calls regarding Spice exposures  2013, 2,666 calls regarding Spice exposures

Poison Control

Additional Spice Statistics  Drugabuse.org, reports that spice is the second most used illicit drug by high-schoolers  2009, nearly 4.6 million drug related ED visits

Works Cited Addiction Blog. Does Spice show up on drug tests? 14 Mar Nov Drake, Katie. It's official — spice is illegal in Utah. 25 Feb Nov NIDA for Teens. Drug Facts, Spic. 07 Nov Nov Peterson, Eric S. Legal Spice Plagues Homeless. 30 Jan Nov

Works Cited Cont. The Washington Post Company (2010) The growing buzz on ‘spice’ –the marijuana alternative retrieved from The Daily Beast (2014) How Pfizer Helped Make ‘Spice’, The Deadly Fake Pot retrieved from Drugs.Com (2014) Synthetic Marijuana – Spice or K2 retrieved from American Association of Poison Control (2014) Synthetic Marijuana Exposures retrieved from