Everything about spice: what it is, signs of use, behavior under it, consequences

Spices, or jiviash, cannot be called a drug, in the full sense of the word. Do you know why? But because most drug addicts simply do not have time to live to form a habit and dependence, which is a sign of drug addiction.

This is not black humor, my dear, young and not-so-young, lovers of changing consciousness. And in this article I will try to convince you to stick your nose into this shit and try it, for once. Because, in the case of spice, VERY OFTEN!!! one time becomes the last time.

History of creation

Spice appeared in Europe and America at the beginning of the 2000s. It was sold under the guise of incense mainly through online stores. And in 2009, during research, it was recognized as a drug.

In Russia, the smoking mixture appeared not much later than in Europe and America, and gained wide popularity in certain circles. Since the end of December 2009, smoking mixtures in Russia have been recognized as containing drugs, and their circulation in the country has been banned. On February 4, 2020, a law was passed according to which the use and promotion of spice is punishable by law.

Video: top selection of people stoned on spice

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Effect on the body

According to the mechanism of its effect on the body, spice is classified as a psychoactive substance. Although those who use it believe that the effect of the smoking mixture is similar to the effect of marijuana and the spice itself is no more harmful than it, it causes more severe consequences.

The effects of spice occur due to its influence on cannabinoid receptors in the nervous system. The active substances of the drug act on CB-1 cannabinoid receptors in the brain (cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum, caudate nucleus of the striatum) and the peripheral nervous system, which causes not only drug intoxication, but also negative consequences from this system.

In addition, CB-1 cannabinoid receptors are also found in the lungs, liver, kidneys, and heart. This causes the appearance of specific symptoms from these organs. CB-2 cannabinoid receptors are present in the spleen, ovaries, pancreas and other glandular organs. Therefore, the use of spice causes the appearance of symptoms in these organs.

Since recent studies have identified a new type of cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system, it is possible that the smoking mixture may also affect them. The psychoactive substances themselves affect the functioning of the nervous system in such a way that a change in mental state develops. Sometimes an altered state of consciousness may develop.

Research in 2009 proved that the active ingredient in spice is not compounds of plant origin, but analogues of tetrahydrocannabinol of synthetic origin. Namely, CP-47.497 and JWH-018.

Physical symptoms

When using the drug the following are noted:

• rapid heartbeat (tachycardia);
• increased blood pressure (hypertension);
• dilation of peripheral blood vessels, which causes a feeling of warmth in the body;
• deepening of breathing and its frequency.

The drug addict’s movements become accelerated, abrupt, and sometimes even uncontrollable. There may be numbness in the limbs and tinnitus.

Cognitive changes

After smoking spice, a drug addict may notice:

• slowing down the passage of time;
• the appearance of auditory, visual, olfactory hallucinations;
• inhibition or, conversely, acceleration of thoughts and perception of reality;
• increased anxiety, up to panic attacks;
• the feeling that the body does not obey him;
• increased suspicion;
• the appearance of uncharacteristic thoughts;
• memory loss;
• loss of self for a while.

People around them often testify that spice users speak in a confused, slow manner, their speech is unintelligible and intermittent. An addict can also “freeze”—freeze in pretentious or static poses, stare at one point for a long time, or move pretentiously.

About how Valik lived to be 40 years old, using everything and died ingloriously, blowing spice

I had a friend at work, every dog ​​in the area knew him. He constantly hovered near the drink stall, was considered a local authority among the “boys” and led a lifestyle you can imagine.

He did it twice, guys. He was a chronic alcoholic who periodically used various substances. When he was treated to amphetamine, when he was given opiates... But one cannot call him a convinced drug addict; rather, he was an alcoholic.

So, he lived and did not grieve. Neither prison, nor numerous fights, nor alcohol undermined his strong health. The incident happened to him because of spice. He was treated to food and died on the spot. Yes, yes, I took a couple of drags and began to choke, in front of my stunned friends. Before they even had time to gasp, Valentin gave his soul to God. It took ten minutes! May the kingdom of heaven be upon him... He was a good guy.

Drug effect

After consuming spice, a drug addict may:

• relax so much that he becomes unable to move;
• throw it into the heat, then into the cold;
• “carry away” - a feeling of distance from the outside world develops, as if the drug addict had left the body and it does not obey him;
• “to glitch” - a person looks at one point, it is difficult for him to assess what is happening around him, it is difficult to speak, and sometimes even to breathe;
• “cover” with uncontrollable laughter, fear or panic.

He often experiences visual, auditory, and olfactory hallucinations.

What do pathologists say about spice?

And here I will quote a statement from one anonymous pathologist. Read what he writes.

“This is just fucked up. In my city, 3-4 spice bodies are brought to the morgue every day. And most importantly, what types - from young cocksuckers of 14 years old, to 40+ foreheads. Moreover, according to the employees, they die “with a bottle in their hands.” Recently it was sold out. Two stubborn people, 27 and 31 years old, lived with their mother in the same apartment. First the eldest died, then the youngest, with an interval of a week. I’m curious, what could be done with the spice dryer? This is clearly not the same spice that was popular six months ago. Even desomorphine didn’t kill you like that in its time. For anyone interested, when the spice brain was cut into pieces for preparations, there were incidents where the sections literally blurred and leaked through the fingers in the form of a gray-brown mass. Yum! SUDDENLY this full house completes toxic pulmonary edema. As for the other liver, there is ischemia in the heart, one of the little ones has a hemorrhage in the kidney. The main thing is brains and lungs. So even if you were unlucky from the point of view of eugenics and you were pumped out in intensive care, you will be stunned for the rest of your life. Only one thing is not clear - either they are dying because of the lethality of the poison itself, or because of the cattle mentality - “Let’s sprinkle more, so that it’s pushed in harder.” Such bio-waste used to be pumped out in intensive care, or in the hospital.

Don't think that I hate drug addicts, God forbid. It’s just that when they cite statistics from every angle and shout “You’ll die!”, and people continue to die in batches in the same way - I’m sorry, but you are hopeless cretins and assholes. Forget the spice that was popular even six months ago, the new crap isn’t worth it. PS Our morgue's record is 11 logs from one company in one day. It’s so nice to see how the world is getting rid of the genetic burden, which is essentially committing a voluntary departure from life for the sake of synthetics. There was never a NORMAL high in spice, it was just some kind of bullshit for youngsters who just wanted to change their minds.”

Signs of a drug addict

In the near future after consuming a smoking mixture, a drug addict can be identified by:

• unusual behavior: laughs, communicates with someone, looks for something or chases someone, may freeze in unusual or uncomfortable positions, looks at one point, becomes suspicious, aggressive, speech becomes unusual, his mood may change sharply;
• pupils dilate;
• eyes turn red;
• the face turns red;
• breathing accelerates and becomes noisy.

A long-term spice user can be identified by:

• increased irritability and suspiciousness or depressed mood;
• sudden, rough movements;
• eyes with dilated or burst blood vessels;
• fast or too slow speech, in which there is a lot of swearing;
• memory loss.

Since drug use leads to a decrease in intelligence, the addict loses the intellectual abilities that he previously possessed. Over time, it becomes difficult for him to perform mental tasks. With long-term use, intelligence can decrease noticeably.

How to understand that a person is using spice, how do spice addicts behave?

He has a stupid look, stupid reasoning, glassy eyes at the moment of consumption. He is sloppy and has a distracted attention span.

He behaves, in general, exactly the same way as other drug addicts behave. And until you see it at the moment of an overdose, it is difficult to calculate it. And at the moment of an overdose, his behavior can easily be confused with the behavior of salt workers due to paranoia and glitches.

In general, if you notice strange behavior, grab your child by the scruff of the neck and drag him to a blood test or to a narcology clinic. Buying tests is useless. Very often, the test does not detect either spice or salt, because manufacturers constantly change the formula so that the components of the poison do not end up on the list of prohibited precursors.

Addiction

First, psychological dependence develops. This is due to the fact that without spice, for a drug addict, the world “loses its colors,” and to make it “bright,” a person needs a dose of the smoking mixture. But due to the development of an addictive effect (the previous dose has less effect or no effect at all), it is necessary to increase the dosage. With a long break, depression, self-doubt, nervousness, and depression occur. To normalize the condition, a drug addict needs a dose of a smoking mixture, after which he feels “better.”

In rare cases, mental dependence develops into physical dependence. It is caused by metabolic disorders (metabolism) that develop with long-term drug use. In this case, the body gets used to the presence of the active components of the smoking mixture and forms a pathological metabolic chain. If you refuse spice, it breaks and the entire metabolic system is disrupted. Cases of the development of physical dependence on a smoking mixture with real withdrawal symptoms have been described. Getting rid of such an addiction is difficult and you cannot do without the help of a narcologist.

The younger the spice smoker, the faster the addiction develops, and the more difficult it is to overcome.

Who else smokes spice and how prestigious is this drug in drug circles?

In general, seasoned drug addicts do not consider spice to be a drug and few people use it. This is because the pleasure there is short-term and very dubious. Ask any experienced drug addict about spice, he will say: don’t try it, it’s game!

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But still, they themselves sometimes do not disdain it. Why? And when it is not possible to get a dose of your drug, but kumarit. Then they, like seagulls, grab everything that comes to hand. And by this they save themselves from the need to scour around in search of “their drug,” since the dead no longer need to scavenge.

I'm not exaggerating, I swear! Below I will tell you a story about a friend of mine, to whom exactly what I wrote about happened.

Harm

The main danger of using spice lies in the consequences it leads to. In addition, smoking the mixture reduces the activity of the immune response, which increases the risk of contracting an infectious disease and exacerbation of a chronic disease. In addition, for the same reason, the likelihood of developing neoplasms, including malignant ones, increases.

Also, the drug addict’s intelligence decreases, his range of interests and communication is limited. The desires of such a person are quite primitive, but they necessarily include the use of spice.

Symptoms of poisoning and overdose

A Spice overdose is a natural and predictable event. With regular use of mixtures, tolerance occurs, which leads to a constant increase in the dose. As a result, an overdose will certainly occur, which will have the most severe consequences.

First, a person develops long-term hallucinations, and he completely falls out of reality. Most often, the drug victim sees frightening pictures that cause horror and panic reactions. At this time, a person can commit conscious or accidental suicide, for example, jumping out of a window to escape from attacking monsters.

After a period of hallucinations and feverish motor activity, a phase of inhibition begins. At this time the following symptoms appear:

• heart rate increases;
• repeated vomiting appears, accompanied by severe nausea;
• the vessels narrow, leading to increased pressure. In addition, insufficient oxygen begins to flow to the organs, which causes malfunctions in their functioning;
• breathing becomes weaker and slower;
• loss of consciousness and clinical death occur in the most severe cases.

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Consequences of long-term use

The drug gradually but surely destroys the human body and his personality. The consequences of smoking spice appear gradually, from stage to stage. The liver, reproductive, cardiovascular, and nervous systems suffer the most.

Effect on the liver

The components of the smoking mixture have a pronounced toxic effect on hepatocytes (liver cells). Due to this, its ability to break down toxins and produce bile is reduced. The blood supply to the organ is also disrupted. As a result, the risk of developing:

• cirrhosis;
• tumors of the liver and bile ducts;
• liver failure.

With prolonged use of spice, jaundice develops against the background of these diseases. If medical help is not sought in time, the substances in the bile have a toxic effect on the brain, which leads to encephalopathy.

Impact on the reproductive system

The drug leads to:

• menstrual irregularities;
• decreased libido;
• impotence in men;
• menstrual cycle disorders in women;
• infertility in both sexes;
• development of tumors of the reproductive system.

Tumors of the genital organs can lead to hormonal disorders. Their manifestations depend on the disruption of the production of a particular hormone.

Consequences for the heart and blood vessels

Already after the first smoking you can feel its negative effect on the heart and blood vessels. After all, the body responds to the ingestion of a drug with a rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) and an increase in blood pressure (hypertension).

Over time, the use of a smoking mixture leads to:

• hypertension;
• coronary heart disease;
• atherosclerosis (atherosclerotic disease);
• heart attack;
• stroke;
• arrhythmias (heart rhythm disturbances);
• heart failure (chronic and acute).

Even a single dose of spice leads to a sharp and significant narrowing of blood vessels, as a result of which the blood supply to all organs is disrupted.

How does it affect the nervous system?

People who take a smoking mixture develop:

• Specific psychoorganic syndrome. It manifests itself as increased irritability, aggression, incontinence, and decreased intellectual abilities.
• Hallucinations.
• Psychoses.
• Constant anxiety, even paranoia.
• Depression (including severe, with suicidal tendencies).
• Toxic neuropathy.
• Toxic dementia (dementia). Moreover, the degree of decrease in intelligence depends on the duration of use and dosage.
• Ischemic stroke of the brain. Associated with insufficient blood flow in the arteries of the brain due to their blockage by a blood clot, the risk of formation of which increases in the presence of atherosclerotic disease.

Effect on other organs

Since the drug disrupts the blood supply to all organs, people who use it experience:

• premature aging of the skin (dry, flabby, the number and depth of wrinkles increases);
• the face swells;
• urinary and fecal incontinence when taking a large dose;
• cough with sputum, which increases over time;
• dyspnea;
• Chronical bronchitis.

Also, taking the drug reduces the activity of the immune response, which increases the risk of developing infectious diseases and malignant tumors.

How to cure a spice addict?

If you realized it in time and your relative is all right in the head, then he needs to be treated simply for addiction. Therefore, you need to either act according to our instructions or put it in the RC for at least three months. Here you can call a team for forced accompaniment to rehabilitation .

Be sure to read our instructions, it describes everything about drug addiction, how it arises, what its root is and how to approach treatment: How to cure a drug addict yourself

If you see that the cuckoo has already flown into the forest, then psychiatric help is needed. No RC will help here, this should be the second step. And the first one is placement in a psychiatric hospital.

And most importantly, don’t say or think stupid things, like: oh, they’ll chop him up and turn him into a vegetable. Wake up!

Its spices will soon be turned into a vegetable. But, I repeat once again: a vegetable for spice is too cool. A drug addict would sooner die on the spot from an overdose than just go quietly and live peacefully.

Danger of consumption methods

The mixture can be smoked using an aroma lamp and like tobacco.

Use with an aroma lamp

Spice is poured into a special recess of the lamp and a candle is lit under it. This method is safer, but it takes a long time to achieve drug intoxication. But it still causes damage to the body.

Use as tobacco

This method is extremely dangerous. Spice is smoked like a cigarette, hookah, bong or through a pipe. The narcotic and psychotropic effect develops quickly, but there is also a high risk of acute poisoning. The damage done to the body also increases, and addiction develops faster.

Treatment of Spice overdose and poisoning

Therapy is carried out in several stages and directions. It depends on the condition of the victim and the stage of poisoning.

• An agitated and aggressive patient is secured on the bed using belts or ropes.
• A seriously ill patient without consciousness and signs of life is resuscitated and placed in the intensive care ward.
• In the future, they support the most important functions of the body, such as breathing, blood circulation, and cardiac activity.
• Detoxification measures are carried out, forcing the removal of narcotic substances from the body.
• Subsequent treatment is aimed at eliminating painful symptoms and strengthening the body. The victim is prescribed vitamins and microelements, medications to improve brain activity, and hypertensive drugs. Rehabilitation can last from 2 weeks to 3 months.

Drug overdose

Contrary to popular belief among spice users, it can cause acute intoxication. It is characterized by a combination of clinical manifestations from different organ systems.

Effect on the nervous system

Derealization and depersonalization disorder develops. The first is a perceptual disorder that manifests itself:

• impaired perception of the surrounding world - it seems unreal or distant, devoid of colors;
• memory impairments are observed;
• sometimes states of déjà vu or zhemavu occur (a person does not recognize things, people, or events that are known or familiar to him).

The second disorder is characterized by:

• loss of sense of self;
• feeling of inner emptiness, exhaustion, fatigue;
• loss of mental properties characteristic previously;
• the emergence of a feeling of impossibility of controlling one’s own actions.

There is also a condition when a drug addict loses the ability to control his movements (“arms and legs don’t obey”, “my head is not mine”). Because of this, a person can talk incessantly, while the topic of conversation is not important, and the addict is unable to stop.

Psychomotor agitation of varying strength may occur. It is characterized by:

• state of mental excitement. It manifests itself in accelerated speech, often unintelligible with swearing or shouting, heightened hearing, smell, vision, fear of loud sounds, bright light, strong smell. A person becomes aggressive, he has ideas that require immediate implementation.
• fast, sharp, imprecise, less often chaotic movements, muscle spasms or even cramps. There is a sudden surge of strength.

After normalization of the condition, there is a loss of strength, severe fatigue, even exhaustion.

Often there is an unmotivated feeling of fear and anxiety. They can be so strong that a person hides from others and can run around the room.

With a large dose of spice, true or false auditory hallucinations can occur. With the former, the addict hears voices from outside, with the latter, in his head. Visual and olfactory hallucinations may also occur.

Persons susceptible to mental disorders may experience psychosis. They represent pronounced mental disorders with mental reactions that grossly contradict the real situation. This is fraught with disorders of perception of the real world and behavior similar to those described above, but more pronounced.

Changes in the cardiovascular system

In case of acute poisoning from the heart and blood vessels, the following symptoms appear:

• increased heart rate (tachycardia);
• increased blood pressure;
• redness of the skin, then paleness;
• the appearance of a feeling of warmth, followed by cold;
• chest discomfort;
• pain in the left side of the chest or behind the breastbone;
• feeling of numbness in the limbs.

Effect on the respiratory system

May occur:

• cough;
• dyspnea;
• burning sensation in the lungs;
• rarely a feeling of suffocation.

Effects on the urinary system

In severe cases, the ability to control urination is lost. Therefore, sometimes it happens involuntarily. Since the kidneys perform a cleansing function, systematic use of spice affects their parenchyma.

How does it affect the digestive organs?

Very often there is a feeling of nausea that turns into vomiting. Saliva production increases. Toxic effects on the liver lead to digestive disorders - constipation may alternate with diarrhea.

Main causes of overdose

The main reason is the use of spice, similar to tobacco smoking. This method does not allow precise control of the dosage, and the effect develops much faster. There is also an almost simultaneous intake of a large dose of spice into the body.

First aid

It is necessary to call an ambulance as quickly as possible. It is forbidden to leave a drug addict alone, because he can harm himself. You can’t let him sleep or withdraw into himself - talk to him, ask questions, maintain contact.

If you lose consciousness you should:

• put the drug addict on his back, turn his head to the side;
• check airway patency;
• in case of respiratory arrest, artificial respiration and indirect cardiac massage should be performed with a frequency of 30 relatively quick compressions on the chest, followed by 2 breaths mouth to mouth or mouth to nose. Then the algorithm is repeated.

It is necessary to monitor the drug addict’s condition or carry out resuscitation until the ambulance arrives.

Health care

Treatment is carried out in the intensive care unit. The first step is to find out the substance that caused the poisoning. Then they prescribe:

• diuretics;
• vasopressors or antihypertensive drugs;
• antiemetics;
• drugs that restore blood circulation;
• antidepressants;
• vitamin products;
• antihistamines and sedatives.

Consequences of lack of help

Without proper help, severe brain damage can develop, which leads to loss of mental abilities and turning a person into a disabled person. If further assistance is not provided, death is possible.

Lethal dose

The exact single dose has not been found. Depending on the health status and physiological characteristics of the patient, death may occur if the standard dosage is exceeded by 2-3 times. Deaths have been reported even with the standard dose.

How to terminate

It will not be possible to stop the action at once. You can relieve the condition by inducing vomiting. There is no specific antidote. Therefore, in case of overdose, it is necessary to call an ambulance. Subsequent treatment requires detoxification, symptomatic therapy in the intensive care unit.

How to leave

Since there is no specific antidote to spice, inducing vomiting and increasing diuresis achieved by taking diuretics will help to get rid of it. Furosemide and Torasemide have a fast and powerful diuretic effect.

Post-effects (Otkhodnyak)

After consuming an excessive amount of a smoking mixture, an addict may experience:

• dry mouth and thirst;
• state of weakness, weakness, loss of strength;
• decreased mood;
• noise and pain in the head;
• heaviness in the body;
• nausea, even vomiting;
• aching pain in the body;
• slow passage of time;
• the unreality of what is happening around.

How does spice feel?

It all depends on what the manufacturer puts in there. You understand that they are not produced according to GOST.

The herbal base is infused with anything from stimulants to hallucinogens. But most often it is a mix of these two substances and spice, in theory, should “sip” like ecstasy.

But in reality, everything is not going at all as drug addicts expect. And instead of mild euphoria, increased mood, energy and transformation of the surrounding world into a bright fairy tale, drug addicts get a bad trip.

That is, they are seized by a panic attack of incredible strength, they begin to have some kind of crazy and terrible hallucinations. Some people just start to feel pain in their hearts and have thoughts about who knows what. Here is an excerpt from a drug addict’s report from their forum:

“Initially it was clear to me that smoking spice dry was a bad idea. However, the bottle was already filled with thick white smoke and there was nowhere to retreat. I inhaled. It felt like hashish, but after the first cap I realized that we had gone too far with the dosage. I felt fine for a minute, and then a powerful gag reflex spilled the contents of my stomach onto the snow. I was completely overwhelmed: my ears were blocked, my heart was beating out of my chest, everything was blurry before my eyes. This is not the first bad trip in my life and I knew that this phenomenon was momentary. The main thing is not to succumb to a panic attack. However, ten minutes passed, and the heart did not stop beating quickly. Moreover, something began to ache very strongly in the chest area.

Time passed slowly, each thought captured the imagination a little more than completely. Pictures from my life, from dreams and films floated before my eyes. Every action was difficult, the body became very heavy. Thoughts about the narcs jumping from the roof from this rubbish, about Fenrir freed from his chains, about the meteorite that will turn our planet into dust, about what the cops might take, about the fact that they will never let me go...

My comrades next to me were wildly enraged over something. I sat in a trance and read to myself (or maybe out loud) the mantra that Tatarsky read in Generation Pi: Od melafefon bwa kha sha. Something like “Give me another cucumber” in Hebrew.

It let me go almost as quickly as it hit me. It turned out that no more than an hour had passed, although I was sure that I woke up in the dead of night. My hands were shaking, my head was pounding, it was painful to breathe.”

How to ease withdrawal symptoms

If withdrawal syndrome develops, symptomatic treatment and detoxification are indicated. It is more difficult to cope with withdrawal symptoms at home than in a specialized institution. For example, diarrhea and vomiting may be caused not so much by withdrawal symptoms, but by harmful changes caused by prolonged use of spice. In such cases, the cause should only be determined by a qualified professional.

Self-administration of sorbents and diuretics in combination with potassium supplements is allowed. If you experience increased irritability and poor sleep, you can use motherwort decoction, sedatives, and valerian tincture at home. If the symptoms do not stop, it is strongly recommended to contact a specialized institution.

Bibliography:

1. Auwärter V et al. 'Spice' and other herbal blends: harmless incense or cannabinoid designer drugs? // J Mass Spectrom. - 2009. - T. 44, No. 5. - P. 832-837.
2. EMCDDA. Understanding the 'Spice' phenomenon. - Lisbon: EMCDDA, 2009. - P. 3. - 37 p. — ISBN 9789291684113. Archived March 26, 2010 on the Wayback Machine.
3. Sylvaine G, Sophie M, Marchand J, Dussossoy D, Carriere D, Carayon P, Monsif B, Shire D, LE Fur G, Casellas P (1995). "Expression of Central and Peripheral Cannabinoid Receptors in Human Immune Tissues and Leukocyte Subpopulations". Eur. J. Biochem.
4. Devane WA et al. Determination and characterization of a cannabinoid receptor in rat brain. Molecular Pharmacology, 1988 Nov;34(5):605-13.
5. “On the dangers of spice” information booklet of the State Institution “Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Mental Health” of the Mogilev Region, author - valeologist Vasilenko E. V.
6. Ulrich S. Zimmermann et al. Withdrawal Phenomena and Dependence Syndrome After the Consumption of “Spice Gold” // Dtsch Arztebl Int. - 2009. - T. 106, No. 27. - P. 464-467.
7. Derealization // Big Encyclopedic Dictionary (Russian). - 2000.
8. Bleikher V. M., Kruk I. V. Cenesthesia // Explanatory dictionary of psychiatric terms. - Voronezh: MODEK, 1995. - ISBN 5-87224-067-8.
9. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). - Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2000. - 943 p. — ISBN 978-0-89042-025-6. — ISBN 0-89042-025-4.
10. Susanna Every-Palmer. Synthetic cannabinoid JWH-018 and psychosis: an explorative study // Drug and Alcohol Dependence. - 2011. - No. 117. - P. 152-157.

• Author Veronica Dovnich

• 
  Editor Artyom Emelyanenko

First aid for spice intoxication

Self-treatment for spice overdose is prohibited. If suspicious symptoms of poisoning are detected, it is recommended to call a doctor. Before their arrival, the victim is given first aid, which includes a set of measures aimed at cleansing the body of toxic substances.

First aid:

1. The patient must be reassured, protected from harm to himself, monitored,
2. If there is no consciousness, the victim is placed on his side, the oral cavity is freed from vomit, saliva, and a cotton swab soaked in ammonia is given to sniff.
3. If there is a disturbance in cardiac activity or the respiratory process, resuscitation measures are taken.

At home, only the described procedures are allowed. There are a number of actions that are unacceptable in case of poisoning.

Not allowed:

1. Pour cold water over the victim, immerse him in the bath,
2. Trying to lavage the stomach, this may lead to choking,
3. Allowing the patient to fall asleep, you need to constantly communicate with him,
4. Coffee used during alcohol intoxication will not help with such poisoning; the condition may worsen.

It is not recommended to enter into conflict with a poisoned person, beat him or shake him in order to avoid the consequences of possible hallucinations.

Further treatment of poisoning is carried out in a medical institution; it will not be possible to provide full assistance at home.

Kinds

Spice is not a specific product, but a generalized name for drug mixtures. Depending on the composition, products can be divided into 2 types:

• those that contain only natural ingredients;
• those in which the ingredients are processed with chemicals.

Natural compounds are also characterized by narcotic effects. For example:

• Sage leaves contain a substance called salvinorin - under its influence very strong hallucinations develop.
• Hawaiian rose seeds lead to effects similar to the reaction to LSD; their use disrupts thinking, perception, and disorientation in space is observed.
• The leaves and flowers of the blue lotus contain apormorphine; the effect of this substance is similar to ecstasy.

Varieties containing the listed components are prohibited by law.

Psychological aspect of smoking

The problem lies in the general availability of the product - you can easily find a person who will deliver the drug on the Internet. Spice is cheap - a group of schoolchildren can easily buy it, chipping in with pocket money received from their parents. Young people do not see any harm in smoking mixtures - this is not heroin. As a rule, differences from cigarettes are perceived very conditionally, and smoking looks safe in their eyes.

In advertisements, no one talks about the severe complications after consuming spice and the real risk of going out the window of a high-rise building due to the development of hallucinations. They indicate that the mixture gives a feeling of vivacity and lifts the mood. None of the sellers will tell you what real consequences the buyer can expect.

Children and adolescents who are subject to the opinions of others are a large risk group and put their lives in real danger. Spice can be smoked through a hookah, a cigarette (instead of tobacco), or an aroma lamp. There are many options, as well as products that kill children and adults, for example speed tablets (amphetamine), throwing nasvay or its analogue - snus. But attentive manufacturers do not stop there. Liquids for electronic cigarettes containing a synthetic analogue of marijuana are already being produced. The consequences of using such a dressing are similar to smoking spice.

Severe depressive disorders and suicide attempts occur. Dependence is formed both mental and physical. It is extremely difficult to quit using without professional help. Perception is disrupted - a person ceases to understand the addressed speech.

Stomach pathologies, hyperhidrosis, cough, impaired psyche - plus, one cannot help but talk about the socio-psychological consequences. Social ties suffer from the drug: families are destroyed, friends leave. It is rare that an employer will tolerate inappropriate behavior from an employee. Drugs increase the risk of getting involved in a criminal situation and committing a crime. A smoking person is not interested in his life, prospects, he has no desires or aspirations.

The period of euphoria is replaced by severe depression, which can last for a long time. There is a feeling of inner emptiness and physical weakness. Teenagers who have become addicted to drugs tend to isolate themselves and try not to interact with their parents for hours, or even days, and avoid contact with adults who try to talk to them and teachers. They spend more time in their room behind a closed door.

An additional threat lies in the combination of drugs and alcohol. In teenage groups, this is, at a minimum, beer. This combination leads to severe intoxication and death.

The concept of smoking mixtures

Initially, the composition included only herbs with psychoactive effects, but today manufacturers add synthetic cannabinoids and other chemical compounds.

Such mixes are made in an artisanal way, so the buyer will not know what exactly he is consuming. This can be a mixture of herbs soaked in acetone, solvent, and so on.

Smoking mixtures pose a real threat to life. They spread quickly among teenagers, and their use leads to many side effects. In 2013, there was a wave of spice suicides - minus hundreds of lives that were lost due to stupidity. What is spice and what are its consequences? Smokers don’t think about it.

The peculiarity of the phenomenon is that new drugs are constantly being produced. This means that replacing one prohibited component with another (even if it is practically the same in formula) is not difficult. As a result, a new product appears that is legally legal, but is just as harmful. It takes time to identify it, conduct examinations, and ban it. It is necessary to introduce stricter liability for distribution at the legislative level.