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Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: jackstraw on March 05, 2012, 01:34 am

Title: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice'
Post by: jackstraw on March 05, 2012, 01:34 am
With all the INCREDIBLE strains of REAL MARIJUANA available today.....WHY DO PEOPLE SMOKE FAKE POT???  Fuck that fake shit....GO NATURAL!!!

Here's the story from Wyoming about some bad SPICE...

Wyoming 'spice' smokers hospitalized with potential kidney failure
A batch of the drug “spice,” or a substance mingled with it, is believed to have sickened or caused life-threatening kidney failure in at least 14 Casper area residents, according to health departments and the Casper Police Department.

The public health threat may extend beyond central Wyoming.

“We can’t assume that the material was just in Casper,” said Kim Deti, spokeswoman for the Wyoming Department of Health, which sent out a statewide warning about the drug Thursday afternoon.

“At this point because of health concerns, we wanted to share the concerns beyond the Casper area,” Deti said.

The Health Department’s warning goes beyond a general warning, state epidemiologist Dr. Tracy Murphy said in a news release.

“At this point we are viewing use of this drug as a potentially life-threatening situation,” Murphy said. “We will continue to follow up on this situation to gather more information on these reported illnesses and the cause.”

If one of those who smoked the spice dies, the seller of the drug could be charged with homicide, Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh said.

The department also plans to send a notice to health care providers alerting them to the potential connection between this drug and the reported symptoms, according to the news release.

Walsh held a news conference Thursday afternoon and said six people — three with potentially life-threatening conditions — had been hospitalized for reported kidney failure after smoking blueberry-flavored spice, a synthetic drug that imitates the effects of marijuana.

Thursday evening, that number had risen to as many as 14, although confirmation remains sketchy, Walsh told the Casper City Council at a budget session.

One of those patients has been transferred to a Denver hospital because of full kidney failure, Walsh said.

One of those hospitalized is a student at a Natrona County high school, said county school district spokesman Kelly Estes, who would not identify the student or the school he or she attends.

The district has notified its staff, principals and parents of students in grades 9 through 12, Estes said.

The Casper Police Department, the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation have been pursuing the case, Walsh said. “We will be relentless in tracking down the source of this spice.”

All of those sickened are between 15 and their mid-20s, live across the Casper area, and do not necessarily know each other, Walsh said.

“Not in years have we seen an event of this scale where everything is directly attributed to one specific substance,” Walsh said.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced it was extending the ban on five chemicals used to make spice that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Sellers or users often spray or sprinkle the chemical on plant material, then smoke it, according to the DEA. The DEA has classified the chemicals as Schedule 1 controlled substances, meaning they have high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in the U.S.

Distribution of Schedule 1 substances is a felony, Walsh said.

Prosecution can be difficult because those who make these chemicals can alter them slightly to make them technically legal, he said. “The bad thing then is that people say this stuff is safe, it’s not illegal, and the reality of the world is that the scientists who’ve created this stuff stay one step ahead of law enforcement.”

An entire police patrol team and nearly half the department’s detectives have been interviewing patients and investigating the source of the drug, he said.

No one had been arrested as of Thursday afternoon, he added.

Bob Harrington, director of the Casper/Natrona County Health Department, said the case began Sunday when a person went to the Wyoming Medical Center with reported kidney failure.

Since then, others have gone to the hospital with similar kidney failure symptoms, including nausea, back and stomach pain, and loss of control of body movements including standing, he said.

On Thursday, hospital officials determined the common element in these cases was the smoking of blueberry spice. They then notified county Health Officer Dr. Mark Dowell, who in turn contacted the department, which contacted police, Harrington said.

“Kidney failure can be fatal,” he said. A patient who survives may face a lifetime of kidney dialysis and medications, he added.

Kidneys remove wastes carried in the blood, Harrington said. “So when kidneys fail, the body poisons itself from within.”

Harrington, Walsh and the Wyoming Health Department cautioned that the state crime lab has yet to determine whether the chemicals used in spice or something else caused the kidney failure in these patients.

“It’s correlative, not causative,” Harrington said.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/local/casper/wyoming-spice-smokers-hospitalized-with-potential-kidney-failure/article_37639432-164f-52dc-9c58-c5f27b2b6224.html#ixzz1oCaP3SUw
Title: Re: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice'
Post by: Gary Oak on March 05, 2012, 02:26 am
I'll be honest, despite chilling with Mary Jane for so many years, I have actually tried quiet a bit of spice. Truly it can never replace the joy that Mary Jane brings to my life, but occasionally there are a few brands that I really enjoy sprinkling lightly over my joints to mix things up again. Smoking it alone is not something I'm fond of as the brands I like can be a bit intimidating but there's no harm in moderation right?

Sickeningly enough not all brands are safe and it's revolting to think people can sell their product knowing, or even worse not knowing, that their product is putting lives in danger and not say anything about it until a fiasco like this happens.

Hopefully the victims pull through alright and return home safely.
Title: Re: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice'
Post by: technik on March 05, 2012, 02:33 am
Do you know what was in that spice that caused the kidney failure?

Whats even in spice nowadays? I smoked that stuff back a few years ago when it had jwh 018 in it. I tried the headhunter brand. But now its illegal and the old brands are nowhere to be seen.

Title: Re: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice'
Post by: microRNA on March 05, 2012, 01:31 pm
That is some scary shit! if you dont mind provide updates if you happen to see when they determine the cause. if it was a cannabinoid i would be very concerned and shocked, but it is just as likely to be some other adulterant. every single chemical is going to processed and has the potential for effects or damage and it was honestly just a matter of time before one of these RCs was going to have devastating effects. Even more tragic events and longer term effects no one predicts now will surely be realized as well for some of these molecules, not just the cannabinoids. absolutely nothing regarding the metabolism or toxicology is know for nearly ALL of these molecules. people assume because you can take it and it doesnt kill you right away that its safe but I am sure we are all in for a rude awakening eventually.

as a reminder... once on the streets awaiting unsuspecting customers, MPTP, a devastating contaminate, hid in a batch of RC designer heroin... a precursor metabolized to MPPP+ which selectively targets dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra, which regulates muscles control and movement, just waited to be ingest and DESTROY the neurons, essentially causing parkinsons disease for the poor victims it didnt kill

tbh I got a g of jwh 018 when that stuff was first getting big... i am just curious and like to try things for the experience of a synthetic cannabinoid. made my own spice to smoke and it was pretty cool, but i never got super wowed by the effects. nice to add it on the list and maybe to mix things up every once in awhile but I also agree why not stick the wonderful natural goodness of cannabis. the delicious varieties, potency, and safety profile just can not be beat even if they cost a little more.

the only real reason I ever saw for the synthetics was if you were being drug tested or couldnt get your hands on the real stuff sadly
- microRiboNucleicAcid
Title: Re: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice'
Post by: mrgrey on March 05, 2012, 02:03 pm
anyone got any more info on this, like what brand of spice was it, and was it just the blueberry flavor.  also itd be nice if we could identify the rc cannabinoid used.   

this kinda shit just pisses me off even more.  you have completely safe things like thc, that because you ban you force people to use RCs, then you ban the safest (atleast most studied) RC cannabinoids, and you wonder why people start turning up sick.  cuz you banned all the safe chems!!
Title: Re: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice'
Post by: mju7 on March 05, 2012, 03:40 pm
Good article to post. If anyone knows what chemical this is then please post.
Title: Re: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice'
Post by: Kobayashi on March 05, 2012, 08:04 pm
A little off topic but I should note that despite some people's misconceptions, JWH-018 is an extremely powerful psychedelic in certain dosages and should definitely be treated with much caution and trepidation.  I accidentally overdosed on what I now estimate to be a dose of roughly 250 mg (a massive overdose) and it was the single most horrifying psychedelic experience of my entire life.  It was causing extreme dysphoria, I lost the ability to walk and literally felt like gravity was inverted and I was extremely drunk trying to walk in a ball pit or something.  I threw up all over myself and for a good 45 minutes I was actually worried I was going to die especially considering the fact that at the time the chemical was relatively unknown (and still is), especially from a safety standpoint and the general lack of concrete verifiable facts regarding it.

I must say, that I seriously feel that the trip permanently changed my brain chemistry, and this was over 2 years ago.  I will say, as ridiculous as it sounds, that the next day, I woke up and was suddenly lifted from a ~5 year deep deep consistent depression.  It was like going from night to day, and it was the single most incredible joyous feeling I have ever experienced.  My friend who also accidentally overdosed at the same time as I did not have the same horror that I did that day, however, he also experienced a massive overdose and despite us being in separate rooms we experienced a shared visual and telepathic-esque series of hallucinations.  I've done everything from DMT, LSD, obscure research chems, mescaline, you name it...including crazy combos of the aforementioned.  This was the single most EVIL feeling chemical I ever felt in my body.  It literally felt like it cleansed the evil from my body, if that makes sense, because while it was occurring I could not wish it to get out of my body any fucking faster.  The next day, said friend and I went to the top of a cliff and tossed off the freebase pipe and 5 grams of JWH-018 powder into the crevasses below. 

Fuck that shit.