Synthetic weed ban : Yes or No?

To date, synthetic weed is banned in certain countries and states. Here we review the top 5 reasons legal weed should be made illegal in all jurisdictions.

3
minute read

Over the past couple of years, legislative bodies have banned the manufacture, sale and possession of so-called legal weed (a misnomer, because many herbal incense contents have been banned in states and countries for a while now).  Some see this as a knee jerk reaction by governments responding to media sensationalism, while others see these untested, unknown synthetic cannabinoids as a real and present danger.  For example,  side effects of K2, Spice and other synthetic cannabis brands land people in emergency rooms across the U.S.

Those who are called for the ban of herbal incense blends are in the ascendancy and marshal many arguments to support their cause.   Does Spice have THC? – No.  Instead, ingredients of synthetic weed are often unknown and, more importantly, unregulated.  Batches of synthetic weed can be many times more potent than the THC found in marijuana and have serious side effects such as psychotic episodes, hallucinations and cardiac problems.

Listed below are the top 5 reasons legal weed and  should be made illegal according to its detractors:

Top 5 reasons legal weed should be made illegal

1. Lack of research on effects.

Synthetic cannabis has not been around long enough for any research to be done on the effects of long term use. In fact synthetic weed was only just created in the mid-90’s in research labs to investigate the cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system. Some argue that it is best to make synthetic weed illegal now, rather than let society face the potential health problems later on. The ‘better safe than sorry’ argument.

But the fact is that nobody knows the long term damage that synthetic weed can do. There are many reports (including some on this website) that detail the horrific side effects experienced smoking legal weed… and these are just the short term consequences.

2. Unscrupulous manufacturers.

There is a lot of money to be made from manufacturing and selling synthetic weed. Even more if you cut corners and produce inconsistent batches of unlabeled products (not that there are any corners to be cut when it comes to an unregulated product). The bottom line is that you just don’t know what you’re inhaling into the very core of your body when you take synthetic weed.

3. Equating legal with safe.

One of the main arguments leveled against legal weed is that people tend to think that if something is legal then it must not do them any damage (despite evidence to the contrary – think of alcohol and cigarettes).  Herbal incense dangers are present and real.  Synthetic weed is not safe so it shouldn’t be legal.

4. Driving while intoxicated.

This argument follows from the above. People might be under the misapprehension that because synthetic weed is legal, then it must be O.K. to drive while under the influence of products like Spice. This is not the case. On top of this, reliable tests have been devised to test for synthetic cannabinoids, but are expensive. So it is currently impossible for enforcement officers to test drivers for these substances. Banning synthetic weed is the only solution.

5. No therapeutic benefits.

If drugs that have real therapeutic benefits like marijuana, opiates and the like are illegal (for recreational use) then why on earth should a drug that has very real effects and no seemingly ‘useful’ application be legal?

So there you have it, the top 5 reasons ‘legal’ weed should be banned. There are many, if not more, arguments against banning synthetic weed. But that is another post for another day. If you would like to put forward your views on this topic, then please leave your comment below.

About the author
Charles Somerville is the writer of The Alcoholism Guide, a website that looks at alcoholism in all its forms and the effects of alcohol abuse on mental and physical health.
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