Currently there are several forms of “legal weed” and “legal Methanphetamine” on the market, normally at service stations.
“Legal weed”, a product legally marketed as herbal incense that will reportedly get you high if you smoke it. Fake weed products are legal, in some states, and their use has grown since they were first introduced in 2002. They don’t trigger a positive result on a urine drug test and are marketed as being “100% organic herbs,” insinuating that they are natural and completely safe.
The truth is, none of the products on the market are completely natural. They all have been found to contain various synthetic cannabinoids, chemicals produced in laboratories originally to help scientists study the cannabinoid system in the human brain.
These chemicals are indeed completely legal, so far, but what effect they may have on the human body is a mystery. No studies have been published testing the effects of the chemicals on users, so we know nothing about their possible side effects. Even the online stores that promote and sell the legal weed products do so with disclaimers such as “we make no claims in regards to the effects of these products on the human body, mind or soul.”
Some of the fake marijuana products sold commercially claim to contain herbs traditionally used for medicinal purposes, including beach bean (canavalia maritima), blue Egyptian water lily (nymphaea caerulea), dwarf skullcap (scutellaria nana), Indian warrior (pedicularis densiflora), Lion’s tail (leonotis leonurus), Indian lotus (nelumbo nucifera) and honeyweed (leonurus sibiricus).
However, one study revealed that some of the herbal ingredients listed by the manufacturers could not be found in the products. As far as we know, some of these products may contain nothing but lawn clippings.
Also on the market is the “Legal Meth” which is labeled as bath salts and sold as the alternative to meth. The main ingredients of the so called bath salts are mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, also known as MDPV. Some states have outlawed these main ingredients due to the numerous and overwhelming calls to the poison control centers across the United States.
The Sacramento Bee reports that the ingredients of bath salts are not those that would commonly be used in baths. In fact, the substances are sold under various brand names, most of which sound anything like a relaxing soak, including White Lightning, Cloud 9 and Hurricane Charlie. It is commonly known that MPDV stimulates the central nervous system.
The DEA says that the chemical can cause intense panic attacks, psychosis and addiction. Hallucinations are also commonly associated with bath salts. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that one man in Mississippi took a skinning knife to his face and slit it repeatedly while on the fake drug. A doctor in Florida reported that he has seen teenagers do stupid things they would not normally do while taking bath salts – things like jumping out of a third-story window into a swimming pool.
As an Emergency Medical Technician, I have encountered several cases which involved the use of these “Legal” drugs. There is nothing that we can do for the patients, except to control the heart rate with more drugs and to keep them as comfortable as possible and let them ride it out in the ICU. There are no antidotes available for the “legal weed and meth” currently.
