Pubdate: Sun, 14 Jun 2015
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Amina Khan

SYNTHETIC CANNABINOID DATA POINT TO HIGH RISK

Poison control centers report a surge in calls, prompting a new push 
for tighter regulation.

Synthetic cannabinoids have been marketed as safe, legal, herbal 
alternatives to marijuana, but the data from U.S. poison control 
centers say otherwise.

Poison center calls linked to synthetic cannabinoids surged roughly 
fourfold in just the first few months of 2015, according to a report 
from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The sudden rise shows that tighter regulation of such substances is 
sorely needed, according to the authors of the CD Creport.

"Multiple other recent outbreaks suggest a need for greater public 
health surveillance and awareness, targeted public health messaging 
and enhanced efforts to remove these products from the market," the 
researchers, led by CDC epidemiologist Royal Law, wrote in the 
center's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Synthetic cannabinoids (whose aliases include synthetic marijuana, 
Spice, K2 and Black Mamba) are made by spraying synthetic 
psychoactive chemicals on to plant matter, which can then be smoked 
or consumed.

Because the producers of the psychoactive chemicals can continually 
tweak their formulas, it can be hard for government regulators to keep up.

The researchers analyzed the numbers from the National Poison Data 
System, which tracks the monthly calls to all U.S. poison centers. 
The number of calls in April had shot up to 1,501, a 330% increase 
from the 349 calls made in January.

 From January to May, poison centers received 3,572calls linked to 
synthetic cannabinoid use, a 229% jump from the 1,085 calls received 
during the same period in 2014.

A total of 626 calls reported that the synthetic cannabinoids had 
been used with multiple substances; the top two were alcohol (144) 
and plant-based marijuana (103).

Negative effects seemed to hit older users harder; those in their 30s 
and older than 40 were more likely than those ages 10 to 19 to suffer 
"severe" outcomes, the authors wrote. The median age of users was 26.

Among the commonly reported health effects: agitation (1,262), rapid 
heart rate (1,035) and vomiting (585).

And for the 2,961 with a reported medical outcome, 335 (11.3%) 
suffered either highly dangerous or potentially deadly effects; 15 
deaths were reported, up from five during the same period in 2014.

"The increasing number of synthetic cannabinoid variants available, 
higher toxicity of new variants, and the potentially increased use as 
indicated by calls to poison centers might suggest that synthetic 
cannabinoids pose an emerging public health threat," the study authors wrote.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom