Addictive 'Spice Gold' Causes Withdrawal Syndrome
Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal DrugsAlso Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 11 Jul 2009 - 0:00 PDT
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A clinical report from Dresden supports the impression that "Spice Gold" is strongly addictive. In the current edition of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arzteblatt Int 2009: 106[27]: 464-7), Ulrich S. Zimmermann, from Dresden Technical University, and his colleagues describe a young man who developed physical withdrawal symptoms after regular consumption of this designer drug, accompanied by a dependence syndrome.
Since 22 January 2009, "Spice Gold" has been subject to the German Narcotics Law. This means that production, free trade and possession are forbidden - but initially for only a year. There will be a permanent regulation at the end of the year. More information about "Spice Gold" is currently being collected. The authors' case report is a scientific contribution to this discussion.
When he came to the hospital, the patient had been consuming "Spice Gold" daily for eight months. Because of the loss of activity, he had rapidly increased the daily dose from 1 g to 3 g. He felt continuous craving for the drug and this caused him to carry on consuming it, in spite of the cognitive impairment it caused him. This led him to neglect his duties at his workplace and he was now threatened with unemployment.
He had already been forced to be abstinent for a time, because of a bottleneck in supplies, and this had triggered typical withdrawal symptoms, such as internal unrest, tremor, palpitations, headache, nausea, vomiting, depression and desperation. These symptoms had abruptly disappeared when he started consuming spice once again. He suffered similar symptoms during drug withdrawal in hospital.
The authors interpret the symptoms as indicating a typical withdrawal disease, very probably due to the admixture of synthetic cannabinomimetics.
Source:
Dr. Stephan Mertens
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
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13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/157124.php>
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/157124.php.
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Visitor Opinions In Chronological Order (20)
Um.... What Isnt Addictive...
posted by bob on 12 Jul 2009 at 7:37 pmI am not saying it addictive. I have never tried, but just bought my first batch, and I am eagerly waiting to try it.
All I have to say is Beer!!! Yeah that’s right, beer is legal in every inch of this world. It’s addictive, it’s a drug, and it kills more people than any other drug!!! OK, so what it helps you feel good it’s fun. If you don’t want to drink then don’t drink it. It’s like weed, it makes you feel good, and it kills less people. People can control their use of weed, just like people can control their use of beer.
But many many people lose control of both weed and beer. Spice is right up there with anything, just like video games, any escape is going to be addictive. What new about this? When I don’t play video games for a while, I get withdrawal symptoms too... cause they are fun, and my escape AFTER work. Just like weed was when I was in college.
k2 spice
posted by Olivia on 9 Sep 2010 at 1:22 pmI reeeeally wish people would be more careful. My friends were telling me about some sort of blueberry k2 incense and I googled it and found out it is counterfeit. Apparently there are only a few authentic blends. The list of fakes is scary long and they don't quite know what is in those, . It's worth checking out if you buy this or know someone who does. Stay safe.....
Dont use spice gold
posted by Jon on 6 Oct 2010 at 12:51 pmI used the spice on a vacation for a week. My girlfriend and I where enjoying it every day, then on my last day I had a panic attack and thought I was going to die. It has been 2 weeks after that night, and I have been feeling very weak and dizzy with increased heart pounding and long sleepless nights. I hope they put a stop to this, I have smoked weed for a long time and never felt such a bad feeling in my life. Trust me I like the high I got from it, but I can tell you the attack that I got is not worth it. I just wish they would make weed legal so I could just smoke that without getting in trouble.
Pls don't smoke this!
posted by No! on 13 Nov 2010 at 7:07 amI smoked spice every day for a good 8 months and now that I quit I'm actually experiencing a decent amount of withdrawal symptoms. I have night sweats, hallucinations of dark figures running through my room, nightmares, nausea, migraines, panic attacks, extreme anxiety, weird heart tremors, dizziness and I even fainted once. For all of you about to try this for the first time Omg please don't become a statistic! Think about it, you're putting something you know absolutely nothing about in your body and risking everything just to get high! I feel so horrible about myself now... I never wanted to be a drug addict and now I am. If you're like me and you can't smoke the good stuff because of your career please don't resort to these dangerous alternatives. It's really not worth it! It's been 2 weeks since I quit and I'm still experiencing these symptoms! This shit is no joke and to think I introduced to my family and friends... And my mom ended up having a seizure. Please people this is legit shit, no propaganda involved. Do not smoke spice!
"fakes"
posted by Jake on 19 Mar 2011 at 10:06 amYes, there is greater chance for addiction due to the full agonist effect that the JWH-XXX compounds have on the CB1/CB2 receptors, whereas THC is a half-agonist.
So theoretically, addiction potential is much greater because of that. Now, since there has only been 1 peer reviewed study which has been published on JWH-XXX (whichever compound it happens to be), this is pretty speculative.
Now from an anecdotal standpoint: I have experienced no more withdrawals from JWH/CP laced herbal incense than I have from regular Marijuana, or even caffeine. Yes, there is some effect on sleep patterns and probably appetite, but they're mostly mental and will go away within 2-3 days at most. I've seen this effect with both Herbal blends AND straight JWH-018 & JWH-073
Tolerance does develop incredibly rapidly with JWH/CP blends and I'm afraid it might "ruin" natural marijuana for me due to my skyrocketed tolerance.
And with regard to the "fakes" out there:
Yes, there are many brands claiming to be "K2" brand products. They mostly are not. However, most of the time these "off brands" are still the same product, they may contain a different synthetic cannabinoid or in different ratios, but they're all JWH/CP/WIN compounds, dissolved into alcohol or acetone, and then sprayed onto inert plant matter to make a "legal smoke".
Save your lungs, buy the straight JWH, a .1mg scale, and a vaporizer. Don't burn up that dumb random plant matter and inhale it for no reason, unless you're lazy (like I am much of the time, so take it with a grain of salt).
Hope that wasn't a wall of boring text, just trying to put some info out there about the different incense blends out there.
My take home message is this: Educate yourself about what you are putting into your body. Then you can make a decision based on facts, rather than word of mouth and random opinion. Granted, there's not much out there except anecdotes and opinion, but we do what we can with what we have.
This stuff will mess you up
posted by The guy that knows on 8 Jun 2011 at 2:19 pmTheres been a lot of controversy lately about spice and what not. The bottom line though, this stuff will destroy you. The genuine article, especially the stronger ones, are nothing to joke with. Sure, its fun and it gets you high like nothing bud can do. But use this stuff long enough and it'll mess with your mind and screw up your body.
I have friends who have used it and i myself have used and gone through the withdrawals. If you think staying up for hours on end feeling like your going to vomit at any second while your also trying to deal with a splitting headache. Then yeah, feel free to use it. But for anyone with a brain, stay away from any type of synthetic 'weed'. Stick with the real stuff if your gonna smoke.
k2 withdrawals
posted by tired wife on 18 Oct 2011 at 8:49 ammy husband is suffering k2 withdrawal right now. been going on for a month. he was smoking every day - more and more for about 6 months. when he realized that he was losing a lot of weight (40 lbs) and throwing up every day, he stopped. the dr told him that they are seeing more and more withdrawal symptoms with k2. he was so sick the first week that he asked to go to the hospital twice, but then got paranoid and wouldn't leave the house. after the first week of taking valium from the dr, he started to get better, but during the 2 and 3rd week, he would suddenly get sick and throw up several times before he would feel better. he is now in the 5th week and still losing weight - no appetite. worse thing he ever did was smoke k2. he should have known because his brother tried it once and ended up locking his self in the bathroom for hours and crying that he didn't want to die and leave his kids. so far my husband has lost about 50 lbs.
K2 Withdraw is REAL!
posted by Dustin on 22 Oct 2011 at 6:30 pmI want to start off by letting everyone know I have tried everything when it comes to drugs. About a year back I was trying to kick an Opiate addiction. My friend told me about this fake stuff at the "foreigner mart"...you know. I was skeptical about it because years back I bought some of this "dryer lint" looking stuff from a head shop which needless to say was garbage. This K2 stuff was by no means any comparison. I actually got high and loved it! I continued on this train for about a year with little notice to change. About 2 months ago I learned this was going to be banned. My reaction was better quit now and save myself some trouble. Quitting something you can easily get at the store still proved very difficult. I was able to quit a day or so but always saw it when buying ciggs. I broke down every time. At the two day mark I began getting dizzy and felt high still but not in a good way. The deadline came and a day before I quit. It was over a week ago I took my last hit. I knew what to expect on the two day mark but it has only gotten worse. My heart is palpitating, I'm very dizzy, hallucinating figures, my palms are sweaty, and I have very bad night sweats. My past withdraw experiences from crack, cocaine, or opiates cannot even compare! If this does not stop I will be going to the hospital. I fear my heart will stop at any moment! Please listen to me and stay away! I would rather you be on crack!
This stuff is like meth
posted by Beowulf on 25 Oct 2011 at 7:41 pmThis stuff is evil fun to smoke but as soon as i stopped cant eat with out vomiting and difficulty in sleeping also depression and a feeling of a mental break down at any minute could occur. This stuff is like meth
Never again
posted by Ronda on 17 Nov 2011 at 9:50 amIm an educated person and didnt think I was doing anything "to stupid" when instead of illegal POT I bought black rooster insence... 2 months latter I have pneumona coughing up fom, night sweats bad dizzy weak and now NOT working anymore I got so sick. I got sick while smoking it and quitting. Its awful to have night sweats no sleep just not worth it kids..OR adults///
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