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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Designer Drugs (K2 etc.), Version 2.0

By now, most people have heard about "legal" highs like K2. However the origin of these designer drugs are unknown. Lets have a recent history lesson.
  Where did this come from?
     "Herbal Incense" (as they are marketed) Started showing up online and in European head shops in 2004. By 2008 K2 was flying off the shelves. Shortly there after legal "herbs" were hitting our favorite head shops here in the states. For those of you that don't know, most "spices" as my friends and I, aren't herbs at all. They're actually a potpourri coated with a cr?hemical agent that mimics the high of the herb we all know and love, Cannabis.
The Chemicals:
     JWH-018 was the first of many chemicals known as synthetic cannabinoids. It was first synthesized in 1995 by J.W. Huffman PhD. Next came CP-47 and 497. All three of these chemicals have since been classified as schedule 1 substances by the DEA. In other words, illegal. I wouldn't worry about not being able to find spice at your local head shop, there is currently an estimated one million legal designer drugs on the market today.
Bath Salts:
    "Bath salts" is really slang for legal stimulants, which have been known to have addictive qualities. Originally thought to contain Mephadrone, (a chemical with effects much like MDMA) they actually contain MPDV. MPDV is a psychoactive stimulant that delivers nothing but negative effects (in my opinion) such as : kidney pain, dizziness, over-stimulation, breathing difficulty, severe paranoia, psychotic delusions, extreme anxiety/agitation, sometimes progressing to violent behavior , suicidal thoughts/actions, just to name a few. Now I love psychotic delusions just as much as the next guy, but not on top of paranoia. Sounds like a bad mix to me. 
  My designer experience:
    I'll admit, anything that comes from a lab, usually sketches me out. However I'll try almost anything (psychotropic) at least once. While spending time with a friend of mine in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, I had an opportunity to sample some of the new spices. After trying the first version of K2 a year prior I figured I'd give it a shot. After inhalation of the newest version of K2 I noticed how synthetic the high really was. Kind of like wrapping your brain in plastic wrap. It was not even close to a cannabis high, and much shorter. I'd say fifteen to twenty minutes at the most. The next spice I tried was very mild, almost no effect. Finally I tried a very new, and very potent brand. Using a one hitter, I tried "Zombie." The word potent doesn't quite do this new chemical justice. I'd call it, VERY INVASIVE. It was as if the chemical took over my mind. At first I felt very anxious, then a few minutes of  Déjà vu. Next I felt my head was empty. Like I had no thoughts or feelings. Visually there was nothing going on. However my mind felt as if it were in a void. Like all other spices, the high was only twenty minutes, so it wasn't the worst experience I've had, but wild none the less. 
Why does this matter?
    There so many legal psychoactive chemicals on the market. Not only that, but there are thousands being created right now. Currently we are going through a chemical revolution. Who knows what new chemical will come out tomorrow? Maybe an ultimate super drug, that takes the best of LSD, DMT and MDMA. Maybe we will discover the worlds greatest psychedelic, or maybe the most deadly. We'll just have to wait and see...... 
    

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