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Synthetic Euphoria: Drug Legalization, Harm Reduction, and Drug Policy

Marijuana is illegal to possess for recreational or commercial purposes. In reaction to marijuana prohibition, smokeable herbal blends have become popular route to score that sweet, sweet legal high. The newest blend that is on the shelves at local smoke shops is being labelled as “fake weed” because of the marijuana-like high that comes from smoking it, despite not containing THC. The latest trend at teen parties isn’t warm beer or prescription medicines pilfered from parents’ medicine cabinets. Instead, increasing numbers of youths are turning to an herb-based product to get high, and unlike marijuana, it’s perfectly legal. It’s known as K2 or Spice, a synthetic substance that, when smoked, gives users a marijuana-like high, according to drug authorities. Its growing popularity is causing increasing alarm among health care professionals, law enforcement authorities and lawmakers, with one Drug Enforcement Agency official calling its use the equivalent of “playing Russian roulette.”

These Legal-ish alternatives to marijuana exist; you just need to know where to look for it. Apparently that’s what someone learned when they put the herbal incense brand “Spice” in their pipe and smoked it. The results were, like, totally rad, dude. It turns out Spice contains the synthetic substance JWH-018, which is incredibly similar to the main active component of marijuana. Although sold legally in many countries, governments around the world are lining up to put the kibosh on the Spice party. This is nothing short that evolving a widely used narcotic yet the authorities struggle to deal with it. Another matter is that of the public and political demands for marijuana’s medical availability, federal drug agencies are instead promoting bureaucratically sanctioned alternatives which are synthetic, expensive and often ineffective. It is ironic that after decades of pretending marijuana is medically useless, federal drug agencies are now aggressively pushing synthetic Marinol, the so-called “pot pill,” by arguing it is as safe and effective as marijuana.

Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behaviour. What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction—that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume their productive lives. Alternative or not, legal or not it is still part of the problem and has to be dealt with before it spreads and add to the current drug problem already present in society.

July 21, 2010 - Posted by windowmelodies | News | drug addiction, fake weed, Marijuana, Marinol, Spice