USA to Ban Synthetic Cannaboids

From: DEA Public Affairs
November 24, 2010

 
DEA Moves to Emergency Control Synthetic Marijuana
Agency Will Study Whether To Permanently Control Five Substances.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is using its emergency scheduling authority to temporarily control five chemicals (JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol) used to make “fake pot” products.  Except as authorized by law, this action will make possessing and selling these chemicals or the products that contain them illegal in the U.S. for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) further study whether these chemicals and products should be permanently controlled. 

A Notice of Intent to Temporarily Control was published in the Federal Register today to alert the public to this action. After no fewer than 30 days, DEA will publish in the Federal Register a Final Rule to Temporarily Control these chemicals for at least 12 months with the possibility of a six-month extension. They will be designated as Schedule I substances, the most restrictive category, which is reserved for unsafe, highly abused substances with no medical usage.

Over the past year, smokable herbal blends marketed as being “legal” and providing a marijuana-like high, have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults.  These products consist of plant material that has been coated with research chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and are sold at a variety of retail outlets, in head shops and over the Internet.  These chemicals, however, have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process.  Brands such as “Spice,” “K2,” “Blaze,” and “Red X Dawn” are labeled as incense to mask their intended purpose.

Since 2009, DEA has received an increasing number of reports from poison centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products.  Fifteen states have already taken action to control one or more of these chemicals.  The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to allow the DEA Administrator to emergency schedule an abused, harmful, non-medical substance in order to avoid an imminent public health crisis while the formal rule-making procedures described in the CSA are being conducted. 

“The American public looks to the DEA to protect its children and communities from those who would exploit them for their own gain,” said DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.  “Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that ‘fake pot’ is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case.  Today’s action will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products.”

Lab analysis of JWH-018 & JWH-073 effect on brain

Kansas lab looked at synthetic marijuana's effect on brain
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
From: columbiamissourian.com

Marijuana, K2 and other synthetic marijuana variants contain active chemicals that cause psychoactive effects when consumed. They are part of a class of compounds known as cannabinoids. The cannabinoid in marijuana is the naturally occurring delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The Johnson County Crime Lab in Kansas has identified two synthetic cannabinoids in K2: JWH-018 and JWH-073.

Cannabinoids act by binding to two types of nerve receptors known as CB1 and CB2. Both receptors are linked to proteins that regulate neurotransmission. ¦  Jashin Lin

COLUMBIA — A legal substance that mimics the effects of marijuana is responsible for some hospitalizations across the country but has not proven to be a significant presence in mid-Missouri.

K2, a substance that state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, wants to ban in Missouri, is a “non-issue” in Columbia, said Jessie Haden, Columbia Police public information officer. The Columbia police have not received reports of incidents involving the legal substance.

K2 is a combination of plant materials and two synthetic cannabinoids, according to Jeremiah Morris, a forensic scientist for the Johnson County Criminalistics Laboratory in Mission, Kan. The laboratory, an arm of the Johnson County Sheriff's Department,  ran an analysis on K2 in October 2009 after noticing an increase in use in Johnson County.

“They found K2 to contain lab-produced drugs that act on the same part of the brain as marijuana,” Morris said.

But the compounds in K2 are three to five times more potent than THC found in marijuana. Morris compared the effects of K2's compounds to a lock-and-key mechanism in which the lock is a receptor site of the brain and the key is the drug's compounds. The "keys" in K2 compounds are keys that fit the brain's "lock" better than those in marijuana.

The psychoactive drug can cause users to experience rapidly increased heart rates, loss of consciousness, paranoia and, occasionally, psychotic episodes. One hospitalized user claimed he could see his heart beating out of his chest. Individuals have different reactions to the drug, though users do not have to smoke excessively to experience potentially harmful symptoms, Morris said.

K2 compounds were produced in a laboratory at Clemson University in 1995 by a group of research students working under professor John Huffman, who was trying to explore how drug substances latch on to receptor sites in the brain. Morris said he believes that manufacturers of K2 created and sold the substance for drug use by studying Huffman’s research, published in 1998.

Morris said there has been little scientific research exploring the toxicity of K2 in the United States, but hospitalization cases have appeared in Florida, Maine and Arkansas, in addition to St. Louis, Springfield and Kansas City.

Scientific studies on K2 compounds were done using a drug called Spice that emerged in Germany in 2008. It was made up of plant materials and the same compounds as K2 and caused psychotic episodes that resulted in increased hospitalizations and accidents, Morris said.

These studies showed that those who ingest K2 compounds exhibit typical drug dependency signs, withdrawal symptoms and addictive behaviors associated with other drug use. Morris said that K2 and Spice are basically the same product with different names.

“We’re seeing exactly what Germany saw in 2008 and 2009,” Morris said.

Morris said that as people have begun to smoke K2 instead of marijuana, calls to poison control centers and emergency rooms have increased.

Though K2 has psychoactive properties, it is currently legal in Missouri and federally. Schaefer and other legislators hope to change this.

The House Public Safety Committee unanimously voted to pass a bill that, among other things, would make one of the ingredients in K2 illegal.

The bill's next step is passage by the House Rules Committee. It could then go to a vote of the whole body.

Kim Dude, assistant director of the MU Wellness Resource Center said the center has no plans to incorporate K2 into their educational programs until more information is found about the drug.

“The noise is from the media; it’s not from the students,” Dude said. “I think a lot of people are unaware.”

Also see: Bouncing Bear Botanicals Raided