Synthetic marijuana overdoses have risen significantly over the summer, especially for the west coast. In a State like California, where medical marijuana is legal but recreational lurks just out of reach. While dispensaries are highly regulated, not every patient has the ability to seek relief within its walls. Therefore, some patients must lean on the black market for one reason or another.
The major issue now facing both the State and the black market is that the number of people who have tried marijuana has risen drastically in the last decade. Of those respondents, some of them reported continuing to use the drug over six months later citing a dealer as their source. Maybe these individuals don’t have a “qualifying condition” and can’t access the dispensaries. Really, it doesn’t matter what the reasoning is, the black market is just as strong as ever thanks to current laws.
So what happens when a dealer runs out of Pot? Do you think they will turn the extra business away? Like any good salesman, some dealers will offer a substitute. Among his arsenal of heroin, eight-balls, and some of the other major players; he lands you on a simple marijuana substitute. K-2 or Spice has now entered your life. This, by the way, this is the definitive “Gateway” that everyone speaks of.
K-2 is a ground mixture of herbs and spices that are then chemically sprayed with a substance that acts similar to THC. There is no actual marijuana in the product, and it is typically packaged in silver bags and sold as a “smokeable incense.” Some similar effects to the real stuff do take place, such as a lack of pain response. The similarities end there as the rest of the effects are non-desirable such as increased agitation, seizures, elevated blood pressure, and heart palpitations.
Admittedly, marijuana itself does have an addicting effect that is why these people are trying K2 in the first place. These individuals are winding up in emergency rooms all over the nation, but more heavily on the west coast. The number of people who use any other drug is also declining in states where marijuana is recreationally legal. Is this correlation or coincidence?
You have a public outcry directed at the federal government to legalize weed. You have a populace hurting themselves by trying to duplicate the effects, and yet the feds decide to keep marijuana a Schedule 1 drug. The pockets of Big Pharma run very deep, after all.
Whatever someone’s reasons for wanting to use marijuana, it is officially time to drop the issue and let the people have their pot.
