Legal Marijuana - Herbal Smoke - The Synthetic New High

Legal blend of herbs smokes like marijuana, but leaves no trace!

2011-01-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

By Jerremy Sitz

Marijuana is illegal to possess for recreational or commercial purposes. In reaction to marijuana prohibition, smokeable herbal blends have become popular route to score that sweet, sweet legal high. The newest blend that is on the shelves at local smoke shops is being labeled as "fake weed" because of the marijuana-like high that comes from smoking it, despite not containing THC.

"We sell Wicked Spice (www.buywickedspice.com) as an incense, what people do with it once they leave The Joint is up to them. We have no control over it once it leaves our store," said employee Sara Jacobs, who added that the shop sells more than 150-200 grams of Wicked Spice/K2 a week.

"We can't even keep it in inventory because we are selling so much of it. Since were open until 3 a.m., we get a very wide range of people buying Wicked Spice: your mid 40-something professionals, grandmothers, and college kids," Jacobs added.

The blend is referred to as K2, Wicked Spice or Genie and is a mixture of exotic herbs that are coated with a chemical compound called JWH-018. The compound is designed to mimic THC on the cellular level. K2 affects the brain receptors that are responsible for inducing a euphoric high very similar to that caused by smoking dope.

The packaging for K2 and other similar products plainly state "Not for human consumption," but word has gotten around of the effects of smoking it, making the warning nothing more than a technicality.

Mathias, a junior environmental policy and management major, resonated the claim by stating, "I guess the effects were similar (to marijuana), but it was already in my head that I didn't like it because it tasted like fish food."

The company who makes the product is shrouded in secrecy, keeping that information to itself. Multiple websites claimed to have been the "official K2 website," but would not disclose exactly what is in the product they are selling, or allow an interview from any media source. Nolan Miller, the front manager from Dream Merchant Pipeshop & Tattoos, is unaware of the additive. "I don't know anything about the chemicals that are involved with it," he said.
K2 is currently legal to buy in most states in the country, including Ohio. It is available online from various websites, as well as the various smoke shops around the OSU campus. The Dream Merchant on 13th and High, for example has been selling the product starting at $25 per gram, with price drops as quantity increases. According to Nolin from Dream Merchant, Wicked Spice has been selling "pretty consistently every day" to both students and non-students around campus.

While K2 is currently legal in Ohio, it might not be for long; Great Britain, Germany, Poland and France have banned all sales of synthetic marijuana, according to CNN. This is not a good sign for fake pot proprietors in America. Kansas, Kentucky and Missouri have all written legislation proposing the banishment of products containing JWH-018. It is only a matter of time before the rest of the country jumps on the bandwagon.

Spice Product Reviews

2011-01-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a new site made by some poor guy who got scammed by lower quality herbal blends:

www.herbalincensereviewman.org

The site rates various brands.

The list of Celebrities Smoking Synthetic Marijuana (Herbal Incence) Continues to Grow

2011-01-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

As reported in part by friendsofcannabis.com/

It seems that it's not just people with good jobs and 14 year olds smoking spice. In the past months a few celebrities have come clean about using spice, and others have been caught on camera.

We all know that celebrities like to smoke their weed. But when they find themselves subject to random drug testing, more celebrities seem to be turning to synthetic (legal) marijuana. So let’s take a look at some who may surprise you, others you will say “no shit.”

Kristen Stewart

Miley Cyrus - Claims what she smoked was "Wicked Spice"

Lil Wayne

Kid Cudi

Rihanna caught buying Wicked Spice, and K2 from a convenience store in Los Angeles, CA.

The Legal Synthetic Marijuana That Works So Well It's About To Be Officially Banned

2010-12-07T22:46:00.000-08:00

No one’s really sure where it’s manufactured — maybe China or Cameroon — or exactly what’s in it. It’ll probably get you high for 40 minutes or so. You can probably walk to the nearest gas station and buy some right now, but you’d better hurry. It's about to be illegal.
If you’re a high-school kid looking to score, or a parolee worried about a whiz quiz, you’ve probably already heard of the latest iteration of legal marijuana substitutes. Spice, as it’s most commonly known, has been expanding law-abiding minds across the state for at least the last two years, and it’s finally grabbed the attention of law enforcement.
On Nov. 24, the DEA used its emergency powers to outlaw a range of heretofore legal ”synthetic marijuana blends,” creatively marketed as "Wicked Spice Herbal Incense." ”When the ban comes into effect at the end of 2010/2011, the chemicals used in spice and related products will officially become controlled substances, illegal to use, possess or sell.
Legal bud such as Mr. Nice Guy, K2 (purchaselegallk2now.com), or Wicked Spice (buywickedspice.com) won't be available for long. Stock up all you can now.

DEA Emergency Ban on Synthetic Marijuana NOT in Effect

2010-12-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

Contrary to previous reports that a DEA emergency ban on synthetic cannabinoids had gone into effect on December 24, that emergency ban has been delayed. The DEA published a notice in the federal register dated January 7 that its November 24 notice of intent to institute an emergency ban had to be revised due to "administrative errors."

Sold under a variety of names, including Spice and K2, the synthetic cannabinoid products have been criminalized in about a dozen states, with more states on track to join the list.

DEA spokesperson Barbara Carreno confirmed to the Chronicle January 13 that the ban was not yet in effect. "We're still writing the regulations," she said, explaining that, "While we must give the public 30 days notice, that doesn't mean it automatically becomes illegal. We're working diligently on it and hoping to get it done quickly."

The delay was forced by legal challenges from the Retail Compliance Association, a newly-formed retailers' organization created to block the DEA ban. "They need to stop hurting the small businesses that sell these products, and at least have a grip on the basics of the laws that govern their actions" said Dan Francis, the group's executive director, in a press release. "These rule do apply to them, they can't just declare that they don't and have it that way, we are a country of laws, passed by congress, not dictated by the DEA."

Get a synthetic high without breaking the law

2010-04-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

By CHERRYL HURD and LORI PREUITT

The genie may be out of the bottle.

And when we use the word "Genie" we are talking about one of the many new names used for synthetic pot. You can buy the product at Bay Area smoke shops without breaking any laws and it will give you a pot-like high.

James Frost-Winn is no stranger to marijuana. He works part time at Distractions, which is one of the many shops on San Francisco's Haight Street. About a year ago he heard about a legal product that gives you a high similar to pot.

"A lot of people use it they have to do it to past drug tests." Frost-Winn said. "I wanted to try it cause it was around".

The pot impostor goes by several names other than Genie. They include Spice, K-2 and Wicked Spice herbal smoke.It was similar to what marijuana didn't have the same body or mind relief as marijuana," Frost-Winn said.

But unlike real grown marijuana, they are legal and are marketed as an herb incense or potpourri.

You can even find the stuff on Amazon.

When it first hit the smoke shops it flew off shelves, but sales have settled down in recent months, according to smoke shops we talked to.

Here's what you would be buying. The herbs in the product are sprayed with a synthetic chemical similar to THC, which is found in marijuana. The packaging says not for human consumption, but that is not stopping people from using it.

Amy Roderick, who is special agent with the DEA, said people could buy it from a store and have no idea about the potential side effects.

The synthetic pot has caught the attention of the DEA who now says they are considering listing Spice and K-2 as a "controlled substance," which would make it illegal.

People we talked to said that would be a waste of time, because makers would simply find something else to replace it with. Users say the product is also popular with members of the military and parolees because it doesn't show up in drug tests.

As of right now, synthetic Marijuana is legal !

Fake Weed (Spice, Genie, K2) Getting Kids High, But There's Nothing Cops Can Do!

2010-04-26T01:12:00.000-07:00

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (CBS/A) It smokes like marijuana, gets users high like marijuana, it even sells at prices similar to marijuana – but new blends of herbs and spices called K2, Wicked, Spice are completely legal and law enforcement is struggling to figure out how to handle it.

"A 10-year-old child could walk into a head shop and buy it," said Shawn Rhoads, a police detective in West Plains, Mo. "It's not a tobacco, it's not regulated by anything. It would be like sending my 10-year-old son into Wal-Mart to buy potpourri."

The substance, often called "Spice," "Genie," or "Zohai" is sprayed with a synthetic compound chemically similar to THC and mostly made in China. It's smoked in joints or pipes, just like the real deal.

The key ingredients are believed to be the unintended result of scientific research.

Dr. John Huffman, a Clemson University organic chemistry professor, was researching the effects of cannabinoids on the brain when his work resulted in a 1995 paper that contained the method and ingredients used to make the compound. That recipe found its way to marijuana users, who replicated Huffman's work and began spraying it onto dried flowers, herbs and tobacco.

It's banned in much of Europe, but not yet regulated in the States. That's likely to change. A Missouri bill seeks to make possession punishable. A Kansas bill would make possession a misdemeanor.

Legal for now - Enjoy it now while you can!

Nothing fake about the high from 'fake pot'

2010-04-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

BY JEREMY ESSIG columbiamissourian.com

I'm high on fake pot right now.

When I first wrote that sentence, I was. My plan was to sample K2 — a substance that legislators say mimics the effects of marijuana — and write about the experience in real time.

Unfortunately, the high provided by the "fake pot" was quite real, restricting my movements to laying in an easy chair and watching television.

I first became aware of the pot substitute from an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Feb. 4. On the same day, a bill to make K2 and similar products illegal — sponsored by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia — was read for the second time on the Senate floor.

Before I go any further, I must admit I don't care for marijuana. My limited encounters with the drug have produced feelings of alienation and a strong desire for solitude and sleep. The issue of marijuana's legality is not the point of this piece; I'm just offering my own experiences.

That said, my curiosity for this new, legal substance outweighed my distaste for the drug's effects. How could a substance that mimics the effects of marijuana be available and how could I have never heard about it?

Around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon, I decided to obtain herbal incense — the technical name for fake pot — and report on its effects. I feel it necessary to note this experiment was not suggested nor approved by an editor or any other individual connected to MU. I am quite capable of thinking up stupid ideas on my own.

At 3:30 p.m. I set out to obtain K2, or a similar substance. I live in a liberal, college town filled with dirty hippies, I thought, how hard could it be to find this currently legal pot substitute?

I began my search at the Peace Nook on Broadway, a name that to me suggested a head shop. Unfortunately, the Peace Nook did not stock herbal incense, though the helpful clerk was nice enough to alert me to two Columbia businesses that did — Dreams Smoke Shop and Bocomo Bay.

Dreams was my next stop, for the simple reason it was within walking distance of downtown. I identified myself as a reporter interested in information on K2 and was immediately met with strong resistance.

"Yeah, I know what K2 is, but we don't have it right now," the clerk said.

"Do you know when you will have more," I asked.

"Nope, it just depends on when she comes," he said.

"So she," (an odd term in reference to a business supplier) "doesn't deliver K2 on a specific day," I asked.

"Nope, it depends on when she comes," the clerk responded.

I asked if the clerk knew where I might go to obtain K2 and his response was equally weird.

"I know some places, but I doubt they have any," he said. "I think the town is all out."

Somewhat defeated and confused by his answers, I called Bocomo Bay to check their supply. The person who answered the phone informed me that they carried many varieties of herbal incense and had them in stock.

Asked about the town currently being out of the substance, the employee informed me that not only did they have it, but they planned on carrying quite a robust stock.

Upon entering Bocomo Bay and asking for K2, the clerk asked if I had used it before. When I said no, the clerk suggested that I start with either Pink or Summit and work my way up to using the other two varieties.

I don't know how much marijuana costs, but three grams of K2 cost $30. As this experiment was not sanctioned, I will not be reimbursed.

In what I initially assumed was a head shop upsell, the clerk asked me if I had an incense burner. I'm not going into debt any further for this story, I thought, especially since the alleged high comes from smoking, not burning the K2.

"I already have a burner," I falsely informed the clerk in an attempt to end his sales pitch.

"No, with this you need a really small burner," the clerk said while producing a box of thin metal pipes.

For those who have not been to a "smoke shop," there are a number of words customers are not to use. Referring to a "bong," for example, will result in immediate expulsion from the shop. The proper term is tobacco pipe.

With that in mind, however, I didn't see how this pipe could be classified as anything but a device for ingesting smoke. The thin metal pipe — also called a "one-hitter" — had a large opening at one end and a much smaller one at the other. It would be impossible to use the device to simply burn incense without drawing smoke in off the smaller end — a practice the K2 label warns against.

I ended up purchasing the "burner," too. I'm completely incompetent at rolling a joint.

Spending $36.56 on the K2 and pipe, I headed home assured that I had just wasted money. How could a substance that mimicked marijuana possibly be put on a debit card? He should have tried to sell me X-ray glasses as well.

Keeping in mind the clerk's warning to start slow, I filled the pipe twice and smoked it. Not more than 10 minutes later, my skepticism had faded into a haze of warmth and lethargy.

Unable (or perhaps unwilling) to begin my writing assignment, I instead grabbed a notebook to record the effects. They included:

-A heightened awareness of music
-Sleepiness
-Enjoyment while watching "Celebrity Rehab"

I'm still amazed I was able to watch 45 minutes of "Celebrity Rehab," a show I generally find distasteful. With the exception of a trip to the kitchen to make a quesadilla and a phone call from my wife, the majority of my high was spent watching "Celebrity Rehab," "Law and Order" and a show I had never heard of, "Criminal Minds." In retrospect, an embarrassingly stereotypical way to spend an afternoon.

The call from my wife, who seemed to find my experiment either amusing or annoying, produced another effect of the K2, the inability to remember words. On multiple occasions, I was unable to produce the word I was looking for, instead ending sentences with "Oh, you know what I mean."

My wife asked what K2 was, a question I was unable to answer. No ingredient list adorns the back of the package, something the Post-Dispatch article pointed out. Also fascinating, the Post-Dispatch reported a supplier of K2 to some vendors in St. Louis refused to say where he obtains the product. Perhaps the "mystery she" the clerk at Dreams spoke of?

A mysterious woman selling an unspecified substance, a perfect character for a Fleetwood Mac song.

The fate of this woman and her gold dust is now in the hands of Missouri's General Assembly, a decision I care to comment neither for nor against.

The potency of her gold dust, however, is most certainly not a mirage.

$19.99 Gets You Legally High

2010-03-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

KidK News - By Danica Lawrence

BONNEVILLE COUNTY - $19.99, that's all it costs to get high-legally. Black Mamba, or also known as K-2 or Spice is sold at the Country Corner, right behind the Kit Kat bars and next to the cigarettes. It's a synthetic marijuana drug addicts could use as a legal substitute.

"If I didn't go through the treatment that I went through and I was addicted to marijuana, I would have smoked Black Mamba for a substitute," says former drug addict Kelly Kenrid.

Former drug abuser Kelly Kenrid, admits the legality of Black Mamba is dangerous, especially for those already smoking marijuana. Now they can get high without paying a fine and because it contains no THC, it doesn't show up in drug tests.

You can purchase the incense on the Internet, three grams for $59.99. Black Mamba comes from a plant called Damiana, which according to experts, has been used for thousands of years in Latin America cultures as a sexual stimulant. Claims are Black Mamba grows in Mexico, California, and Texas. It acts as an anti-depressant and stimulates circulation to help with fatigue and even weight loss.

This is a different type of "fake weed." The difference is it actually works!

2010-02-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

Phoenix New Times - By Niki D'Andrea

Nick Mathison leans over the glass display cases at Trader's Smoke Shop in Peoria and spreads a pile of flaky green herbs across the counter.

"I smoked some of this one night when I was watching a movie," he says, tucking tufts of his red hair under a black baseball cap. "And this really warm feeling started at the top of my scalp and just slowly moved down my face and head. I was on the edge of my seat watching this movie, but I felt really, really mellow. And all it took was one hit."

The herb on the counter resembles sage mixed with crumbled marijuana, but it's fuzzier and fluffier, filled with tiny brown hairs and minuscule crystals. It smells like dry leaves and black licorice and it's being sold in head shops all over the Valley as an "herbal incense blend" meant to be burned for aromatherapy.

But people have been smoking it in joints and pipes to get high.

Most of these grassy-looking incense blends, which come in a variety of brands and scents, contain a relatively new synthetic compound called JWH-018. Few studies have been published on the substance — which is legal (for now, anyway) in the U.S. — but recent DEA research indicates it may have the same effect as cannabis (marijuana). And this has made it very popular in Phoenix.

Local smoke shop owners say these "legal herb" incense products, often packaged in one-gram foil packets and sold for $25 to $45 each, are flying off shelves.
"This stuff has been around for years, but it's been very underground," Tim Martin, owner of West Valley smoke shop Herb N Legend, says. "The trend has just exploded in the last 60 days. People are buying a lot of this stuff."

And they're stealing it, too. Trader's Smoke Shop was robbed twice last year, first in early October and again in mid-November. Mathison, the store's manager, says the thieves were selective — they mainly cleaned out the store's three shelves of herbal incense. Last month, the Kind Connection Tattoo and Smoke Shop in Flagstaff was robbed for $300 worth of Spice Gold, one of the more popular herbal incense blends.

Mathison says he works hard to keep this new "legal herb" incense in stock. "Some people come in and buy several bags at once, and they get mad if you're out of their brand," he says. "It's like they're jonesing for it."

"Fake weed" isn't a new concept — companies like California-based International Oddities have been making imitation cannabis buds from herbs like lettuce, catnip, and damiana for two decades, packaging them in plastic tubes and selling them as legal smoke blends named after real strains of potent marijuana, such as "Hydro," "Inda-Kind," or "Thai Stix."

Although these products look like top-class marijuana buds and are advertised as "euphoric smoking experiences," they won't get smokers high, even if you blaze an ounce in one sitting. That's because none of them contains traces of tetrahydrocannibanol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, or any other known psychoactive ingredient, for that matter.

But the herbal incense blends that have hit the market in the past year are different. For one, they're not marketed as something to smoke. Every package specifically states they're to be used for incense or aromatherapy and are "not for human consumption." But the biggest difference is that these incense blends, with names like Pep-Pourri, Serenity Now, and Puff, contain the synthetic chemical compound JWH-018. Most mock pot blends sold as alternative smokes do not.

And the JWH-018 is what's getting people stoned. Though it's used almost exclusively as an ingredient in herbal incense now, it was first developed in 1995 for research, by organic chemist John W. Huffman at Clemson University in South Carolina. He created a chemical compound to try and find cannabinoid receptors in the brain — the parts that THC in marijuana bond with to produce feelings of euphoria — and research shows he was successful.

Christian Steup, a medical doctor and pharmacist at Frankfurt, Germany-based THC Pharm, which makes medicines from marijuana, told Chemistry World that JWH-018 is "four to five times more potent than tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC."

Unlike Salvia divinorum, a psychoactive, organic sage plant used in religious ceremonies by Aztec shamans and now packaged and sold to head shops, JWH-018 is entirely synthetic. The effects are also different: People who smoke Salvia may hallucinate or experience spiritual trances; people who smoke JWH-018 claim it replicates a marijuana high: light-headedness or warm-headedness, a feeling of relaxation, even the munchies.

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a study on JWH-018 in 2009. The resulting report noted the lack of published research on the substance to date, and described four DEA "behavioral pharmacology studies" in which animals were given JWH-018.

"In mice, it decreases overall activity, produces analgesia, decreases body temperature, and produces catalepsy [rigid muscles]," the report states. "JWH-018's activity in all four tests suggests that it is likely to have THC-like psychoactive effects in humans."

In other words, smoking JWH-018 will probably have the same effect as smoking marijuana. And it's perfectly legal.
Of course, you're not supposed to smoke herbal incense blends that contain JWH-018. Just as many head shop owners insist their bongs and pipes are for "tobacco use only," they try to watch their language when discussing herbal incense.

Asked if he's ever smoked any himself, Herb N Legend owner Tim Martin grins and replies, "I've burned it. It's supposed to be an incense, so I really can't discuss the effects of smoking it."

"It's like if I'm selling spray paint at Home Depot," Nick Mathison explains. "I'm selling it to you as paint — now, if you go outside and huff it, that's beyond my control. Well, I'm selling these products as incense. I can't control what people do with them when they get home."

But the government could. JWH-018 has already been banned in nine countries for its alleged psychoactive effects and health risks, starting with Australia in December 2008 and just last month in Russia and Belarus.

Lawmakers in the U.K. and Canada have classified JWH-018 as a "schedule II" or "class B" drug, which puts it in the same category as cannabis and marijuana derivatives. The chief medical officer of the Russian Federation found that JWH-018 has "psychotropic, narcotic effects, contain poisonous components, and represent potential threat for humans."

The DEA has classified JWH-018 as a "drug and chemical of concern," but it is not currently federally controlled under the Controlled Substances Act and is not illegal in any U.S. state — though lawmakers in Kansas are currently considering a bill that would ban it.

Some proponents of legal herb worry about spreading the word that people can legally get high by smoking "incense" containing JWH-018.

"Right now, it's legal, but the government's going to do what it always does," Martin says. "Once they find out people are getting high off something, they'll ban it. But you know what? Somewhere, somebody's already working on the next big thing."

History of JWH-018 (Synthetic THC)

2009-09-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

JWH-018 (1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole) is an analgesic chemical from the naphthoylindole family, which acts as a cannabinoid agonist at both the CB1 and CB2 receptors, with some selectivity for CB2.

When smoked or orally ingested, JWH-018 produces some effects similar to those of cannabis. Its effects are considered as very similar to those of cannabis. When smoked (as opposed to consumed orally) the amount needed may be lower, however the observed effects have a lesser duration.

Back in 1994, a chemist named John W. Huffman at Clemson University invented JWH-018, which shares his initials as a tribute. Huffman created the compound while trying to isolate which brain receptors are stoked by THC, the active chemical in old-fashioned marijuana.

At some point in the past two years, several companies began marketing the compound in smokable mixes under brand names such as Black Mamba, and K2. Though no peer-reviewed research has been done on JWH-018, Huffman showed it affects the brain much the same as THC.

Nine countries criminalized the drug last year, including the UK, Sweden, and Russia. The DEA calls it a "drug and chemical of concern."

But for the moment, at least, it's perfectly legal in the US.