"Try as they might, Big Pharma cannot find an effective pharmaceutical equivalent to Cannabis":
Nine years ago a UK company marketed a smoking blend called "Spice". This stuff took off big time so, although I don't smoke dope any more, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to sample some to see what the fuss was about. The results were almost identical to real cannabis. My curiosity satisfied about the effects I gave the rest of my sample away but wondered what the hell it contained as the ingredients listed on the package were innocuous flowering plants with at best mild psychoactive properties. When the authorities finally analysed the product they discovered it had been sprayed with JWH-018 a synthetic cannabinoid. It seems the pharmaceutical companies, aware of the medicinal benefits of cannabis (but not able to take out a patent on nature's product) had been trying for years to synthesize their own version but each time their end product still got people stoned so had to be rejected. The success of Spice has led to imitators around the globe (though the UK remains world-leader in legal highs - at least there's something we can boast about.) JWH-018 has since been banned but there are now so many alternative cannabinoids around (thanks to the intense competition between the pharma companies) that new blends keep coming onto the market. Some of them are far stronger than the natural product and can produce instant paranoia and even short-term psychosis. What's particularly scary about them is that anyone who develops a psychological dependency on them (and that's a fair few young people) and then decides to stop taking them can have seizures. Not recommended.
