Spice Smoking Mix Banned

UK's Synthetically-Created Drugs Reclassified

By the end of the year, a number, if not all, smoking mixes found to contain untested cannabinoids will be banned throughout the UK.

The call has been made after the popular smoking mix 'Spice' was found to contain a synthetically-created cannabinoid that mimics the effects of cannabis.

Ban of 'Cannabis Emulators'

It is expected that later this year the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, is to ban Spice along with a wide variety of other substances that are marketed as 'cannabis substitutes' or 'cannabis emulators'.

The hysteria has developed due to a rise in the consumption of legalized products that generally go untested before their release into the marketplace. Spice has been found to have a synthetically-created cannabinoid that is sprayed onto the dried mix of plant extracts to emulate the appeal of cannabis.

Many varieties of legal smoking mixes do not contain synthetically-created elements, but do contain plant extracts that are historically known to have psychoactive effects. The call to ban these substances comes after worries that the untested mixes may contain potentially harmful elements that are dangerous to one's health. It is expected that by the end of the year that these legal highs will be reclassified as Class B substances alongside cannabis.

Unsafe Products Removed Too Late

If these products are deemed to be unsafe for human use and are untested, then why were they allowed to be put into the public marketplace for so many years unchallenged? If what the government says is true about these substances, then why have they been allowed to be taxed and placed on sale for public consumption?

Spice was originally created to emulate the desirable effects of cannabis, but now is likely to find itself in the same category as narcotics. Cannabis smokers say that legal smoking mixes are not nearly as potent and quite unlike the experience of smoking cannabis. The government's decision to continue the media war against cannabis while marginalizing the truly destructive narcotics such as cocaine and heroine seems to confuse priorities.

Unclassified BZP and GBL Date Rape Drugs

The increasing number of synthetically-created compounds yet to be classified as dangerous substances worries many on both sides of the argument. BZP and GBL are legal liquid forms of ecstasy, which have resulted in several deaths. GBL is commonly known as a substitute for the date rape drug GHB.

These are dangerous substances emulating far worse narcotics than cannabis, yet they are not illegal. There are also currently legal forms of ecstasy, speed and cocaine, three drugs far more destructive than cannabis.

The ban will likely result in new black market trade in these substances, creating further opportunity and profit for illegal dealers, rather than research and investigation into what is truly harmful.