Anyone heard of the drug "spices"

jeremy83

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I had a patient who initially was unconscious and vomiting. He came to a bit and was able to say that he smoked marijuana and took "spices". Anyone had experience with that? Normal BP, tachycardic at around 145.

Thanks
 

chaz90

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Spice is synthetic marijuana. Often called K2 as well. I've seen tachycardia and seizures associated with it.
 

DesertMedic66

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Yep. It's supposed to not show up in regular drug tests so people can get high and test clean. There have been some really bad side effects from spice though.
 

wanderingmedic

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yes. it is stupid stuff stupid people use to do stupid things. pretty common thing in Phoenix, AZ - at least while I was there.
 

JPINFV

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dune_cat_spice_must_flow-475x267.jpg
 

TheLocalMedic

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I've seen it a handful of times, all of them younger guys. They said that it doesn't show up on drug tests and usually gets you high like marijuana. One was a seizure and the rest were just general paranoia freakouts. One guy was convinced he was having a heart attack and was demanding "those little pills" which I assume were NTG...?
 

rmabrey

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I haven't seen it in a while. I have most commonly seen anxiety as a result but have seen seizures. I've transported a few patients to a psych facility with a new Dx of Schizophrenia after using K2. I have seen a few articles linking the two but not really anything scientific.
 

Carlos Danger

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I haven't seen it in a while. I have most commonly seen anxiety as a result but have seen seizures. I've transported a few patients to a psych facility with a new Dx of Schizophrenia after using K2. I have seen a few articles linking the two but not really anything scientific.

Very scary stuff.

These designer drugs are bad news. They almost make meth look completely safe. Totally different ballgame than the "traditional" intoxicants that were common when I was a street medic.
 

9D4

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It's dying off from what I've seen. Used to see/ hear about it every day. Haven't heard anything about in a good 5 or 6 months, at least at my hs.
Its nasty, though. Some girl I know lost her kid, because she smoked it during pregnancy, because "it's not a drug, it doesn't show up on tests". One local kid, 12 years old, also died from seizures and his friends dipped on him and left him there seizing.
 

wanderingmedic

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I remember hearing a while back that the DEA was placing a 6 month ban on stores carrying it. can't find the article thou.....anyone remember hearing about this?
 

9D4

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I remember hearing a while back that the DEA was placing a 6 month ban on stores carrying it. can't find the article thou.....anyone remember hearing about this?
Problem with that is that, since its synthetic, they can jutlst change one compound and it's no longer classified as a banned version of spice. As has banned tons and they always end up back on shelves with a different formula.
 

STXmedic

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I used to see it nearly every shift 1-2 years ago. Now I very rarely see it. Seems to be losing popularity down here.
 

socoemt

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I've seen it a handful of times, all of them younger guys. They said that it doesn't show up on drug tests and usually gets you high like marijuana. One was a seizure and the rest were just general paranoia freakouts. One guy was convinced he was having a heart attack and was demanding "those little pills" which I assume were NTG...?

Just fyi, there are tests that can register spice or k2 now. I work part time at a clinic that does testing and we have had them for about 4 months now.
 

teedubbyaw

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We had a kid recently seizing to the point of almost being status. He had smoked K2. Nasty stuff
 

sinus

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It's dying off from what I've seen. Used to see/ hear about it every day. Haven't heard anything about in a good 5 or 6 months, at least at my hs.
Its nasty, though. Some girl I know lost her kid, because she smoked it during pregnancy, because "it's not a drug, it doesn't show up on tests". One local kid, 12 years old, also died from seizures and his friends dipped on him and left him there seizing.

That's good to hear that its use is dwindling in your area. "Spice" is a generic term for any kind of synthetic cannabinoid chemical (it's constantly changing to stay ahead of the law, but the pharmacology of most of them is very similar)

I always thought that stuff was garbage. Status? Psychosis resembling schizophrenia? And its perception as not being a drug (complete BS, it's as strong as they come) and therefore ok to use during pregnancy? A *death* from its causing a seizure? From a marijuana substitute? Completely insane.

What's worse is that it's only used because marijuana is tested for and illegal to possess. I don't think marijuana is harmless or some kind of wonder drug, and I don't personally like it, but if spice and other synthetic cannabinoids are the alternative...
 
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