There’s a good chance that most parents are only familiar with a couple of types of synthetic drugs – Spice (also known as K2) and bath salts. The fact is that the list of dangerous, illicit synthetic drugs on the market continues to grow rapidly. 51 new synthetic cannabinoids were identified in 2012, compared to just two in 2009
Synthetic substances that mimic marijuana, cocaine and other illegal drugs are making users across the nation seriously ill, causing seizures and hallucinations and even killing some people.
With alcohol and marijuana, parents know what symptoms to look for in their kids. The newest substances — synthetic drugs — can create a wider variety of symptoms that parents sometimes don’t know to look for. Some signs parents can look for to help determine if your child is using synthetic marijuana can include: agitation, elevated blood pressure and heart rate, loss of control, pale skin, and excessive sweating.
Similar to the adverse effects of cocaine, LSD, and methamphetamine, synthetic cathinone (an amphetamine-like stimulant) use is associated with increased heart rate and blood pressure, chest pain, extreme paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, and violent behavior, which causes users to harm themselves or others.
Synthetic drugs are formulated in chemical and pharmaceutical labs around the world. Many substances were originally developed as possible new prescription drugs but were shelved because of bad side effects or because they did not do the job they were intended to do.
These drugs can be purchased from drug dealers who work with smugglers, or they can easily be purchased online. They sound like something you might find on the fragrance aisle at Target, but these are actually dangerous drugs masked as harmless fragrances, sold in convenience stores and online. There are many websites offering to sell these “research chemicals” to anyone with the money to buy them.
For further information on the dangers of Synthetic drugs, contact Talbot Partnership at 410-819-8067 or [email protected]. Please also visit our website at www.talbotpartnership.org or find us on Facebook.
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