A lack of thorough education regarding medical marijuana strains and the side effects of marijuana may be hurting efforts aimed at legalizing weed. Headlines citing the horrors of synthetic marijuana are leading to confusion with natural medical marijuana strains because of a simple similarity in name. Synthetic cannabis is a completely different drug than medical marijuana. Synthetic weed aims to replicate the effects of marijuana but often falls criminally short, resulting in some rather grotesque stories. You’ve seen the alarming effects of synthetic weed in videos of naked men punching holes in wooden fences and equally naked men squatting like frogs in front of police Interceptors. But it's rarely made clear that the effects of synthetic cannabis bare no relation to the effects of any medical marijuana strains.
UPDATE: Reminders of Why “Synthetic Marijuana” and Cannabis Should Not Be Considered Similar
It’s been a couple of years since we first published this blog and still people are often confusing K2 as a somehow safer alternative to cannabis. Again, this probably comes down to the problematic term “synthetic marijuana.” It’s important that people spread the word that Spice, K2 or whatever-you-want-to-call-it has very few similarities, if any, to cannabis and is a much more hazardous substance. In July 2018, a particularly nasty batch of K2 made the rounds, leading to hundreds of emergency room visits. It turns out that batch was cut with rat poison. Earlier this month (August 15, 2018 to be exact), 30 individuals overdosed on “synthetic marijuana” at a park in New Haven, Connecticut. The various substances that hide under the umbrella of “synthetic marijuana” are vastly different than natural occurring cannabis and shouldn’t be held as similar simply because of an ill-fitting name.The Effects of Natural Medical Marijuana Strains
Scientific research has concluded several times over that the psychoactive effects of marijuana encompass a laid-back, mellow sense of euphoria. However, even natural medical marijuana strains have a downside. Contrary to what dated propaganda films like Reefer Madness claim in hysterical melodrama, the most common negative effects of medical marijuana include:- drying of the mouth
- temporarily handicapped motor skills
- red eyes
- hindrance to short-term memory
- rapid heart rate
- increased hunger
- drop in blood pressure
- awkward coordination
- difficulty concentrating
The Effects of Synthetic Cannabis
Synthetic marijuana is a completely different animal than any medical marijuana strains and the proof can be found in its psychoactive effects. While the synthesized cannabinoids are designed to emulate naturally grown cannabis, the effects are often much more severe. This is because, while synthetic cannabis compounds bind to the same receptors as the natural cannabinoids in medical marijuana strains, the designer cannabinoids bond much more strongly inducing a more severe chemical reaction. Science has not measured the specific effects of synthetic cannabis on the brain, but users have described the high as inclusive of:- elevated mood
- altered perception
- anxiety
- paranoia
- hallucinations
- increased heart rate
- nausea and vomiting
- disorientation
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