When you can’t get something you want, you often settle for a poor substitute. For some, this means trying the various synthetic marijuana products out there and taking the health risks that go along with them. But with a recent survey suggesting as much as 92% of Texans support marijuana legalization, we can only hope the demand for those synthetics will one day drop to nil.
According to Forbes, a cluster of recent emergency room visits in both the Dallas and Austin areas have officials concerned. Dallas Police reported 40 people visited area hospitals in a 48-hour period. They had symptoms like psychosis, abnormal behavior, and some of them had to be physically restrained.
In Dallas, the rush of hospital visits was blamed on a particular batch of K2 that was sprayed with n unusually high dose of the active chemicals. It’s unclear if the same issue is to blame in the 15 Austin cases.
While products like K2 and Spice have been sold as “synthetic marijuana”, they are nothing like the real thing. Scientists behind these products are constantly looking for new chemicals to use, to stay one step ahead of the DEA. So while the products may alter your mood, they won’t give you anything like a marijuana high.
Forbes explains it well: “The risks of these products are related to the fact that they have more intense effects and lack the constellation of psychoactive and calming chemicals naturally present in cannabis.”
With the risks well known and well documented by sensationalist media, why are people still trying Spice and K2? Probably because it’s much easier to purchase than marijuana and the risks of being caught with marijuana seem far worse to the young folks most apt to try these products.
If the latest survey is right, however, most Texans would prefer the arrest risk of real marijuana use was eliminated altogether.
According to CBS Dallas Fort Worth, a survey from Progress Texas of 9,000 people found that 92% are in favor of legalization and 93% are in favor of decriminalization. Decriminalization would simply remove jail time as a penalty for simple marijuana possession.
The survey also found 98% of respondents support medical marijuana laws, giving patients with serious diseases access to medicinal cannabis. This comes soon after a UT research team released their findings on the first-ever study of its kind, indicating medical marijuana laws do not lead to increased crime rates.
While lawmakers may be a long way from marijuana legalization in the state of Texas, the people are ready. The Marijuana Policy Project recently launched a campaign here and it could be only a matter of time before products like K2 and Spice are abandoned for actual, less-harmful marijuana.
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