Designer Drugs; A Very Scary Substitute
Designer drug use has recently become an even bigger problem than in the past. The 
Narconon Program is now putting special attention on this issue because it is becoming such a huge disaster for the people of the U.S. It is an issue that is affecting people from all social and economic walks of lives. It is very dangerous and people need to be aware of what is going on.
Designer drugs are drugs that are made by chemists to mimic the action of other drugs that have been made illegal. This has been going on since the late 1920’s when people tried to replace heroin and morphine with synthetic substitutes because the original versions had been banned by the government.
Since that time, there have been a multitude of different designer drugs that have been released. There have been drugs that are hallucinogens, ones that mimic amphetamines and still others that act much like marijuana.
Going Around the Law
The reason that these designer drugs are being created is to take the place of other drugs that were made illegal. Some of these drugs are structured like the drugs they are made to replace; others just affect a person with a similar feeling. In this day and age, at least in the United States, as soon as one designer drug is outlawed, another one is created to take its place. This is making it very difficult for the government and law enforcement officers to crack down on the influx of these chemicals. The people that are using these drugs are using them because it is hard to test for the drugs using standard drug tests. There are so many coming out and others being outlawed that it does not give the companies that manufacture drug tests time to create the new tests needed to detect these chemicals. In addition, there has not been enough time for medical and scientific personnel time to actually discover the exact chemical makeup of these drugs.
It is a race that our government is losing, and at this time the government does not really stand a chance of getting rid of these drugs.
Another unfortunate factor in this scenario is that people who are routinely drug tested for their jobs because of safety reasons (i.e. pilots or other high risk jobs) are able to fly under the radar and can perform their jobs completely high out of their mind without anyone being the wiser, at least until some catastrophe happens.
Drug Testing Does Not Work
There are also a lot of people in the military that are using these drugs, again because they cannot be tested for it. The military has put a ban on a lot of these drugs, but it is hard to enforce unless someone in the military is caught with one of these substances on their person.
Young teenagers are also using these products. This may be because they cannot be tested for them with random drug screens and also the kids may be under the misconception that because these drugs are legal, they are not dangerous. There have been many reports that can be found on the Internet of kids using some of these drugs without their parent’s knowledge and the parent either noticing that their child needed medical attention or getting a call from the hospital saying that their child had overdosed.
Synthetic Marijuana
One of the products that has recently become very popular is a form of synthetic marijuana. This product is known as Spice and is a mixture of herbs and other plants that are sprayed with a mixture of synthetic cannabinoids in addition to other unknown chemicals. There have been many cases of people being rushed to the hospital after using this drug. The people who smoked it thought that it would affect them similarly to traditional marijuana and used it in the same way they would the natural plant. Apparently the Spice mixture is much stronger than marijuana and caused some people to have intense reactions. Below are some of the symptoms people suffered from using Spice
- Hallucinations
- Heart palpitations
- Impaired breathing
- Cardiac arrest
- Feelings of inability to breathe or swallow
- Elevated heart beat and blood pressure
- Feelings of panic and confusion
- Inability to speak or communicate properly
- Loss of consciousness
Not everyone who has used this drug has had these experiences and it is hard to say why exactly some people react this way and other people do not. Since the chemical make-up of Spice is not known, it is hard to say whether or not people are having adverse reactions to the synthetic cannabinoids, or some other chemical that the Spice could have been contaminated with.
The only thing that is known is that there are quite a few people who are using this drug these days and they do not know how this is going to affect them in the short or long run. It is possible to buy this drug in some gas stations and all one has to do to be able to purchase them is show an I.D. that proves the holder is eighteen or older. Most of these Spice products are being sold as herbal incense or a smoking blend. Most of the packages of them have a small disclaimer on them saying that the product is not for human consumption.
All someone who is under eighteen has to do is convince an adult to go into the store and buy it for them. It is the same situation as it is with cigarettes or alcohol. The only way that parents can tell if their child is smoking Spice is if they search their child’s room or person and find it, if their child has an adverse reaction and has to seek medical attention or if the child admits it. The latter can sometimes be an unrealistic expectation, depending on the relationship that the child has with his or her parents. Either way in this day and age parents need be quite vigilant with who they allow their child to hang out with and what activities they allow their children to participate in.