Fashion drug Lava red threatens the health

Dangerous fashion drug brings teens to the hospital: health authorities warn of the fashion drug „Lava red“.

Once again, several teenagers end up in the hospital after consuming a herbal blend joint. The legally distributed substances often have fatal effects on the health of consumers. Consumption of herbal mixtures is currently relatively widespread among adolescents. Here are the experiments with the joints from the „Lava red“ or „Monkey go bananas“ However, these mixtures increasingly backfired. An increasing number of adolescents must be treated after the supposedly harmless consumption with massive health complaints in the hospital.

Herbal mixture as questionable marijuana replacement
The beginning was made a few years ago by now forbidden „Spice“. A herbal blend called a herbal supplement, which was considered a surrogate for marijuana, did not fall under the Narcotics Act (BtMG) and could not be detected by most drug gauges. Although herbal mixture was on it, there were always synonymous synthetic ingredients in the sold as a room fragrance product.

These chemicals have in most cases produced the actual effect, but it has always been unclear what the consequences of inhalation are for the health of consumers. After this „Spice“ banned about two years ago, numerous other products have filled the resulting gap. The manufacturers seem to have gone a step further in their current compositions. While at „Spice“ Only very occasionally medical treatments became necessary, lately there have been increasing numbers of adolescents in hospitals, which are affected by the consumption of so-called herbal mixtures „Lava red“ or „Monkey go bananas“ were conditional. Just last weekend, several teenagers between the ages of 14 and 21 had to go for a drink „Lava red“-Joints were hospitalized, with two 16-year-olds were already unconscious when the ambulance arrived.

Shortness of breath, blurred vision, unconsciousness due to „Lava red“
Smoking by „Lava red“ This may cause shortness of breath, cramps, blurred vision, nausea, sweating, dangerous cardiac arrhythmias and unconsciousness, according to the current warning from the Poison Information Center. Even longtime stoners were very astonished in corresponding online forums about the effect. These remind partly less of marijuana but rather of hard chemical substances, so the statement of some users. Particularly dangerous for young people, because their metabolism is usually even more potent and they are less fortified, so their effect can have far-reaching consequences on the young person's psyche. The association with marijuana has a fatal effect. Because while the effect of cannabis, which is already very strong today, can still be controlled to some extent, the dangerous mix of chemical substances with the various herbs can have extreme health consequences, the experts warned.

Herbal mixtures are not suitable for inhalation
Although warn the manufacturers on the packaging, the „Lava red“ is not suitable for inhalation, but it may be assumed that the producers here only wanted to legally secure instead of really discouraging consumers from smoking. For many of the herbal mixtures sold as room fragrance were explicitly launched with a view to distribution through the local head shops, stores with accessories for cannabis use such as water pipes, cleaning supplies, tobacco and special cigarette paper. Here the herbal mixtures may be traded, „as long as they are not prohibited. But they are not banned unless they have negative effects on the body“ stressed a spokesman for the police.

As long as the reference to the local "head shop" is correspondingly simple, many young people will probably continue to abuse the product in the future. Here it is also to appeal to the operators of the shops, to examine the delivery of the products over their counter more critical. Because the distribution of constantly changing mixtures is not only a problem for the legislator in the regulation, but also for the consumer a problem in the assessment of the effect and for the health of an unpredictable risk.

Marijuana ban exacerbates the problem
With the emergence of constantly new substances that are traded as a substitute for marijuana, an old problem of German drug policy is again coming to the fore. Again and again, funds are being raised that are not covered by the BtMG's statutory provisions and yet promise a similar effect to marihuna, in order to circumvent the ban that is still in place today. In the process, substances that have a much more devastating effect on the health of consumers than cannabis regularly come onto the market, as evidenced by the increasing number of hospital admissions among the adolescents. However, since so far hardly any educational work is done in this direction, many young people are relatively unaffected in dealing with the so-called herbal mixtures and often get completely unprepared for health extremely dangerous situations. (16.11.2010 - fp)

Also read:
Dangerous fashion drug lava red
Health through herbs
Survey: Majority for cannabis use as medicine
Cannabis on prescription