How to Avoid Being Unknowingly Drugged With Your Cigarettes Or E-Cigarettes
According to NHS Inform,
Synthetic cannabinoids are lab-made drugs. Spice is a nickname for a substance containing one or more synthetic cannabinoids. Synthetic cannabinoids were originally designed to mimic the effects of cannabis. However, they are more harmful and unpredictable than cannabis. They may be powdered chemicals, dissolved and sprayed onto paper or dried plant material. Synthetic cannabinoids can also be made into a concentrated liquid to be used in vapes.
Spice is an incredibly potent and potentially dangerous drug. Across Wigan and Leigh at the moment - 20/11/2024 - it's having a bit of a resurgence. The danger with spice lies with easily and how often it can be slipped into (and often unknowingly due to it's visual similarity to cannabis and tobacco) other smokables, causing you massive risk with the big symptoms thereafter. Even a small amount is incredibly potent if you have low tolerance! Keep yourself safe, continue reading, know the signs and how to avoid being drugged by it...
What are the effects of spice?
Spice has a ton of effects, and severity very much depends on your tolerance. A small amount to the uninitiated will usually make you drop onto the ground barely conscious for 20 minutes, especially if you don't know you've smoked it. Other symptoms include:
- inability to move
- dizziness
- breathing difficulties
- chest pain
- heart palpitations
- seizures
- extreme anxiety
- paranoia
- suicidal thoughts
- psychosis
- gastrointestinal issues – like vomiting or diarrhoea
- acute kidney injury
Obviously, all are quite serious and not something you want to be spiked with! It really is nasty stuff. Dropping like a fly not too long after smoking it can cause all sorts of safety problems, from being robbed to physically injuring yourself depending on where you've fell. Heart palpitations can be incredibly serious if you have a pre-existing heart condition and seizures are a massive risk in of their own.
How to Keep Yourself Safe...
As previously mentioned, the problem with Spice is it is very often laced into other smokable products and often unknowingly. It blends in with tobacco and cannabis incredibly well. If someone was to do it maliciously, it would be incredibly easy and cause incredible harm. However, it's easy to avoid this risk entirely!
How, you ask?
Well, personally I'd say don't smoke, but that advice can't be universal. So lets see a few strategies. One would to be only smoke pre-rolled cigarettes, not rollups, in packs from the shop. Obviously this ends up more expensive, but I'd argue safety is paramount. If you do smoke rollups, make sure you roll them up. Therefore, avoid other peoples cigarettes (Especially cannabis for a little while). If someone's trying to spike people and ask for a smoke of whatever they're smoking, they've got you very easily. Stay away from other peoples smokes. A next strategy would be to stay in safe areas, specifically indoors, if you believe you have or your going to smoke spice or weed. Sat down, in a safe environment means you can't injure yourself passing out!
Finally, a very important method, make sure any legal smokable's you're smoking are official. Sure, it's pricier, but under the counter goods like that are not only very often incredibly unhealthy but also the tobacco or e-liquid is diluted and mixed with all sorts, sometimes including spice, to cut costs.
If you take these strategies into account, you should avoid the dangers.
How To Seek Help With Addiction
To close off, I thought it'd be pertinent to leave some resources for those with an addiction - to spice or any other drug. See the services below -
- We Are With You - a substance abuse charity who offer all sorts of support
- UK Narcotics Anonymous - Like Alcoholics Anonymous, but for drugs. Use this service to find meetings to attend.
- Childline - Childline is an oddball for this, but they do actucally provide drug abuse support for those under 18!
