Turning down the spice: tackling the problems of synthetic cannabinoids

Synthetic cannabinoids, colloquially known as “spice,” are a class of structurally diverse novel psychoactive substances that were originally designed to mimic the effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis. In 2022, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was monitoring 224 synthetic cannabinoids,1 with new variations emerging every year. These drugs can produce strong effects at low doses, with potential for serious harms such as addiction and withdrawal, psychosis, seizure, cardiorespiratory problems, and death.23 Despite this, little is known about how their use can be managed in healthcare settings.New law on psychoactive substancesThe introduction of the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act created a blanket ban on the import, production, supply, and possession (in custodial settings) of all synthetic cannabinoids and novel psychoactive substances in the UK. This effectively abolished the open sale of these substances by high street retailers (“head shops”) and was followed by a reduction…
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