What are designer drugs?

Designer drugs are synthetic drugs which are created by using man-made chemicals rather than natural ingredients such as synthetic marijuana (Spice or K2), synthetic stimulants (Bath Salts) and a drug known as the “N-bomb”. They are synthetic versions of illegal drugs that are slightly altered through experiments conducted by a chemist so as to avoid it being classified as illegal and to sell them legally on the Internet or stores which allows dealers to make money without the consequences of breaking the law.

These drugs are often disguised as “not for human consumption” such as herbal incense, plant food, bath salts and jewelry cleaners in order to hide their true purpose and bypass health and safety rules. But since the number of chemicals that are being developed are constantly growing in number, the drug users have no way of truly knowing what the drugs might contain along with the increasing risk and  unpredictability of adverse impact on health resulting from such experimentation since a minor modification made to a known drug often results in the creation of a new drug with greatly varying effects.

Synthetic Marijuana

Synthetic marijuana has the appearance of dried leaves often sold in small, silvery plastic bags as “potpourri” or “herbal incense” and is also advertised in liquid form for use in vaporizers or is smoked in rolled joints, pipes and e-cigarettes while some users also convert it into tea or brownies. Synthetic marijuana is really nothing like marijuana since it is a mixture of herbs and spices laced with unknown and harmful chemicals which are intended to simulate THC, the active and mind altering ingredient found in marijuana.

While synthetic marijuana (Spice or K2) are often falsely advertised “safe, natural and legal”, the harsh truth is that they are technically not legal and neither are they natural or safe. Chemical analyses have shown that the active ingredients in this drug are synthetic chemicals with dangerous and fatal toxic effects.

People who use such a synthetic drug experience increasing number of emergency department visits involving toxic reactions to synthetic marijuana. For example, calls to poison control centers related to such use have increased dramatically over the years while in 2014, K2 from a Texas dealer was linked to more than 120 overdoses in Austin and Dallas in one week alone. Documentation also shows that people under the influence of spice have been involved in numerous fatal car accidents such as grave incidents of smashing into trees and innocent people being crushed to death after drivers lost control of their vehicles under influence along with increase in violence and irrational behavior such as a mother throwing a four year old into a trash ban, a man slitting his throat while high in K2 and a teen shooting two school administrators before taking his own life.  

Case studies of addiction to synthetic marijuana further shows alarming increase in panic attacks, severe paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, psychosis, suicidal tendencies, loss of consciousness and physical damage such as high blood pressure, convulsions, heart attacks, seizures and strokes. The withdrawal symptoms further include intense craving, sweating, nightmares, tremors, insomnia, lack of clarity in thinking while some users have also reported experiencing paralysis.

Bath Salts

Chemicals sold as Bath Salts are not bath salts used in a tub but toxic drugs with unpredictable effects. They are a group of similar substances which are chemically made versions of a drug found in the Khat plant, an evergreen shrub from East Africa and Southern Arabia and are often referred to as synthetic stimulants that can induce hallucinations like that of LSD.

Bath Salts are sold in powdered form in small plastic or foil packages or can also be sold in capsules and tablets which are white, off-white, yellow or brown in color or in small jars in liquid form. They are snorted, injected or mixed with food and drink which includes “bombing” or swallowing the substance in cigarette paper along with smoking, inhaling or taking it rectally.

To increase its appeal and attract as many customers as possible, manufactures of such drugs use many names such as Avalanche, Cloud9, Drone, Euphoria, Vanilla Sky, Zoom, Snow leopard and many other different pseudonyms. Still, users of Bath Salts are known to have experienced violent psychotic and life threatening episodes after usage such as suicidal thoughts, psychosis, nightmares, depression, sexual dysfunction, muscular cramps, chest pain and heat attacks, seizures, kidney and liver damage, breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, brain swelling and death.

Bath Salts are highly addictive as one of their main ingredients involves MDPV which is more addictive than even methamphetamine, one of the most addictive drugs in the world and its effects can last for more than six to eight hours after use.

N-Bomb

Commonly referred to as “Smiles”, N-Bombs are a powerful synthetic hallucinogen which is sold as an alternative to LSD or Mescaline. 251-NBOMe, often shortened to 251 is its most potent and abused form, tiny amounts of whose effects can last for up to 12 hours or longer. However, users of this drug have reported worse after-effects than that of LSD while also mimicking the effects of methamphetamine. It is sold in liquid or powdered form or on soaked blotter paper and has a strong metallic taste to evade which dealers add mint or fruit flavoring to the blotter and liquid varieties.

If swallowed, it produces no effect and hence most users place it under their tongue for absorption while others inject, smoke, breathe it through the nose, or even insert it rectally. N-Bombs are extremely easy to overdose on as only a small quantity produce lasting and often fatal consequences since it is so toxic that it requires a filter mask, gloves and glasses even to handle it.

Persistent and prolonged usage of the drug can cause severe anxiety and depression as it induces visual hallucinations which result in distorted visual images and color flashes. Use of N-Bomb can also cause auditory hallucinations, disorientation, paranoia and panic attacks, insomnia, muscle spasms, high acid levels, seizures, heart attacks, kidney failure, bleeding of the brain and respiratory failure.