Introduction to Spice
Spice products are available in various retail markets,
which has attributed to the rapid rise in their popularity. They are readily
retailed online, in headshops, gas stations, and other businesses that are in
the public eye. The packaging and the marketing schemes associated with the
sales of these products are innocuous upon appearance. The containers and
packets will display the products intended use as incense, herbal blends, and potpourri,
which entail a legal necessity to state "not for human consumption"
in order to avoid potential legal liability from users.[1] On the back label of
many of these products, herbs and plants will be listed to further incite
confidence in the marketing scheme. These usually include: Canavalia maritima,
Nymphaea caerulea, Scutellaria nana, Pedicularis densiflora, Leonotis leonurus,
Zornia latifolia, Nelumbo nucifera, and Leonurus sibiricus.
The inadvertent and fallible association of Spice-products as
a "legal alternative" and "drug-test safe alternative" to
cannabis have given these products a grey-market appeal and a stark rise in
popularity among drug tested cannabis users. However, in recent years, due to
changes in state law and federal laws, the products have lost legal status in
different stages. In the evolution of this new synthetic drug phenomena, these
have been loosely referred to as "generations" or "waves"
in the product lines due to the rapid removal and reintroduction of the
products in retail settings, and the products have continued to evolve as laws
change in country, states, and regions throughout the world. The first
generation of synthetic cannabinoids included the brand known as
"Spice." In the consideration of current legality, these products are
in their "third generation" and quickly evolving to a "fourth
generation" to maintain legal standing in the face of recent legislation
throughout the world. In the consideration of drug testing, these companies are
currently able to screen for first and second generation products rapidly.
Spice Blends
The primary constituents of the first wave of spice products
included: Spice Silver, Spice Gold, Spice Diamond, Yucatan Fire, K2 (and
variations), Happy Shaman Herbs, and Smoke. The first products of Spice brand
contained the C8 homologues such as CP-47,497 and the aminoalkylindole JWH-018.
These potent cannabimimetics were discovered as the culprits of the
pharmacological effects as the research done on these chemicals have proven
them to be full agonist of both the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. Within a
few years of production, these chemicals were soon accompanied by many others
readily available to replace chemicals deemed illegal throughout the years.
"Spice" products were quickly produced into
spin-off variations. Retailers carried their own regional brands along side of
popular ones. These retailers evolved due to the popularity of these products.
The market shifted into private gas stations, which expose underage people
inadvertently. With the popularity of these products quickly rising and
problems beginning to surface, dangerous notions have started to form about the
drug and its chemical make-up. Due to the highly unspecific nature of the
chemicals contained, the unresearched nature of the chemicals, and the highly
variable implementation onto the herbal blends, the products have an inherent
dangers that have become a reality in many instances. Medical emergencies and
poison control center alerts have increased dramatically in the recent years
with "Spice"-type products. This fact has come to public light with
the many instances of medical emergencies and attributed deaths blamed on the
"Spice"-products. With minors having access in many instances to
these products, more negative media has been given to these products. As more
research is done, credence has been given to the inherit dangers of the
unresearched chemicals.
Spice as a
brand
Spice was the first commercial brand of synthetic marijuana
that went on sale in Europe in 2004, manufactured by a company called The
Psyche Deli in London, UK. The Psyche Deli was not willing to directly ship to
the US at the time, so it was a difficult to find this brand of synthetic
cannabinoid blends in the US. The brand was more common to the European market,
but the "K2" brand was surging in popularity in the US soon after.
Working largely through intermediaries, online and in
person, they give only a website address on their products. The site has now
disappeared, but official company records show that Psyche Deli does exist. Its
two shareholders and directors are Richard Creswell and Paul Galbraith. The
scant and tardy accounts give some idea of the size and growth of the business:
assets rose from £65,000 in 2006 to £899,000 in 2007. More recently, the Psyche
Deli has been sold to a Dutch “head shop”, De Sjamaan; the owners have moved to
the Netherlands, too.
In the peak of popularity in 2009, the Medicines and
Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of Vauxhall, London sent the
Psyche Deli a letter in regards to their product requiring a license to be
filed for. Regardless, sales continued with no signs of enforcement. This
required the UK government to eventually consider banning the chemicals used in
these products.
For further information on the origin of the Spice brand,
please visit this Financial Times article outlining the history along with
interviews from people involved.
Commonly known products of Spice were Spice Gold, Spice
Arctic, and Spice Diamond.
Spice as a
category of drugs
Note: This Wiki is written for the general term of
"branded herbal blend products." The "Spice as a Brand"
covers the specifics of the brand. The rest of the article, unless otherwise
specified, refers to the general products available on the market and not
Psyche Deli's Spice Brand Herbal Blends specifically.
"Spice" primarily falls under the category of
synthetic cannabinoids as the lacing ingredient in the herbal blends. The
synthetic cannabinoids include many different drugs of various types and
structure. They are agonist capable of binding to the CB1 and/or CB2 receptors
of the brain. It is attributed to being an "herbal product" based on
the marketing by the companies, but the "Spice" drugs should be known
specifically as a designer drug using research chemicals known as synthethic
cannabinoids to generate the desired effects. These chemicals are many and vary
greatly among products of brands (and even the same brands contain different
blends). One blend may contain many chemicals, so the user must be aware of
this. The user must also be aware of the consideration that potency and
consistency is highly variable among brands, packs, and even down to the
material within the package.
Producing/Growing Spice
In the production of Spice-type products, a synthetic
compound is usually added to the smoke-able plant matter by either soaking it
through spray and/or by evaporation. Both of these processes can deposit
variable quantities of the target compound onto the plant matter due to
variations in atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature, and surface area
exposed. This leads to some batches having very little active compound, while
others have high dosages capable of creating an overdose condition. These areas
of high concentration are known as "hotspots," and they can be very
dangerous to the user. Some medical incidents regarding spice-type products
have been attributed to hot-spots in the material. The user makes an assumption
that dosages are typical between packages (or brands); thereby, incidentally
creating an overdose situation from using the same relative weight in plant
material without acknowledging the potential of higher concentrations.
Other important factors of concern in production are the
improper removal of solvents and usage of acetone could lead to negative
impacts on the user's health. It is important to realize the processes of
dissolving, volumetric dosing, and distribution onto the plant material is a
sensitive operation that requires a competent individual in chemistry. Recent
products have been developed and produced by entrepreneurs looking to make
money from the rising popularity of the products, and this introduces a lack of
quality and safety on the end of the producer. It is important for users to
recognize the potential danger in this. The requirement of knowledge to produce
these products is light; therefore, allowing many unqualified individuals to
enter the market with potentially dangerous products.
The typical plant materials are chosen based on ability to
smoke and economics for the producer.
Forms of Spice
Spice is usually considered as a smoke-able blend of plant
matter that has been coated with synthetic cannibanoids, or a combination of
these substances. Different varieties of "Spice" are sold under
various labels such as K2, Spice, Zombie Killer, Funky Green Stuff, Golden
Buddha, K3, etc. Each Spice can have markedly different effects, even different
packages of the same label, as different chemicals are used, having variable
concentrations. Although there are numerous different kinds of Spice, they are
all usually manufactured to produce the same sedating effects of cannabinoids.
Included in the new forms of spice are E-Cigarette
cartomizers and E-liquid. Spice is also available as pre-packaged joints in
certain product lines. Some producers also sell the alkaloids in powder form
straight to the consumer in packages.
