EXTRA-WACKY TOBACCY

Crazy Spice

It's been known for a while that synthetic marijuana-a drug that
consists of plant material coated with chemicals intended to make the
user feel "stoned"-is a growing problem in the military and
substance-abuse treatment programs because it cannot be detected in
standard urine drug tests.

But a few San Diego doctors shed some extra light on the drug at the
American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting recently when they
announced they had linked the drug to psychosis. Doctors from San
Diego's Naval Medical Center reported on 10 patients who were
hospitalized after using the drug, which is commonly referred to as
Spice. The patients, ranging from age 21 to 25, reported varied levels
of auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions and thoughts of
suicide. Some patients' symptoms lasted less than a week, while
others' lasted several months.

Spice-also known as K2, Blaze or Red X Dawn-is listed as a Schedule 1
controlled substance. Synthetic cannabis blends were legal until the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency outlawed them in 2010.