More herbal drugs in circulation

Again more herbal mixtures in circulation in Germany

03/20/2012

"Green Cat", "Lava red" or similar creative names carry the dangerous herbal concoctions, which are finding more and more customers. The bags are disguised as a bath salt or fragrance mixture for refreshing the air in the room. Thomas Zilker, head of the poison emergency Munich, clarifies about the dangers of fashion drugs.

Many herbal mixtures are still legal
On the sachets of herbal mixtures is the note „Not suitable for consuming". „But this is just for camouflage, "explains Thomas Zilker, the head of the poison emergency Munich explains that they are actually herbal mixtures that have a hallucinogenic effect. „People lose the sense of what is dangerous. "Consumers of herbal drugs would be frightened or even agitated, and recently a 14-year-old boy fell off the balcony and seriously injured himself „Jamaica Gold ", Zilker reports.

„Four years ago, these herbal blends are with „Spice“ "Claudia Vodermaier of the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation (LKA) reports that the consumer group included not just young people but all age groups „Spice“, a so-called fashion drug, banned. Vodermaier goes on to explain that the psychotic states are not caused by the herbs themselves but by synthetic cannabinoids, which enrich the mixtures. The brain stimulates the same receptors as cannabis. But the herbal mixtures are much more effective with the synthetic cannabinoids. Since the drug „Spice“ is in circulation, consumption has increased significantly, reports Zilker. According to the LKA, around 30 substances are currently waiting to be included in the narcotics law because many herbal drugs are still legal because they are not yet registered as narcotics.

Health consequences of herbal mixtures
The health consequences of consuming herbal drugs are serious. For example, the smoking of „Lava red“ cause respiratory distress, nausea, cramps, blurred vision, sweating, dangerous cardiac arrhythmia (tachycardia) and unconsciousness, explains the Poison Information Center. Even longtime cannabis users report in online forums on the Internet very surprised about the effect. These remind partly less of marijuana but rather of hard chemical substances. Especially for young people, the drug is dangerous because the substances often have an even more serious effect on their metabolism. In addition, adolescents are mentally less stable, so that the corresponding effect can have far-reaching consequences on the psyche. The comparison with marijuana has fatal effects. For while the effect of the already very strong cannabis can still be controlled to some extent, the dangerous mixture of chemical substances with the various herbs can cause extreme health damage, experts warn. (Ag)

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