Likely most of you have heard the horror stories that circulate a couple of decades ago about people smoking what was called Synthetic Marijuana sold in colorful packaging with names like K2, Scooby Snax, Bizzaro or Spice, to name a few examples. This synthetic Marijuana was basically the same as smoking another popular designer drug that became popular under the name of "Bath Salts". About the closest they came to being like marijuana is that they tended to attach to the same receptor sites as Delta 9 THC would attach to. However their effects were nothing like marijuana. Now there were all kinds of stories that were in the news that was very scary about what this stuff would do. The reason there were so many different stories is because not all products sold as Synthetic Marijuana used the same chemicals. The one that shocked me the most was one that came from the wife of someone serving in the US Military (I don't remember which branch) Her husband basically began smoking the Synthetic Marijuana to avoid coming up dirty in random drug testing they were doing on the bases. She reported that her husband got to a point where he was so out of it and disoriented that he forgot how to eat food. Now over the years I've done LSD, PCP, Psilocybin, Mescaline and of course Cannabis. Now I definitely reach points of extreme disorientation and delusion but I never once forgot how to eat. So I found that story to be particularly scary that something one could buy over the counter in a gas station could have that strong of an effect.
Basically the approach this line of products used was they would treat legal herbs with designer drugs that had yet to be classified as illegal and this was how they could be sold legally Of course the drug would eventually be discovered and made illegal but the "designers" making the drug would just change the formula slightly so as to make it enough different from what was illegal and yet still create a high. In this way they manage to keep being sold legally for quite some time. Eventually after enough time passed and enough horror stories circulated it all became banned regardless of the chemical composition and the synthetic market died off for a while.
Well there is a new player, actually multiple players in town using a whole new approach. See the main component of Cannabis that makes it illegal is Delta 9 THC but there is a close relative that has almost the same effect just not quite as pronounced called Delta 8 THC. Now Delta 8 THC does occur naturally in Cannabis and Hemp as does Delta 9 THC but natural Delta 8 occurs in such small quantities that it's insignificant. In relatively recent times though people have learned how to synthesize Delta 8 THC from other cannabinoids that do occur naturally and in abundance but do not have any real psychoactive effect, things like CBD derived from Hemp being that this is not Delta 9 THC it skirts the Federal Scheduling of Cannabis and that combined with a recent law that was passed legalizing Hemp and all Hemp derivatives has made it possible to sell what they are calling Synthetic Marijuana that is much safer then the Synthetic Marijuana of just a couple of decades ago. You can find it in Head Shops, some Smoke Shops, some Vape Shops and yes, some gas stations. There is one condition these products have to meet to remain legal and that's that they contain .o3% or less Delta 9 THC which is true of most Hemp and why they synthesize it from Hemp/
Now I'm telling you all this because I just recently learned that these products exist and since it's based solely off of Hemp and not made by spraying designer drugs on herbs, I decided to give it a try. I got to tell you I was pleasantly surprised. I bought one pre rolled cone, you can also get it in blunt form and there are a number of edibles based off this stuff. The place where I got it from had several different flavors and it came in 3 main groups, Sativa, Indica and Hybrid. I decided to go with the Hybrid and purchased on pre rolled cone. When I got home I smoked a little bit less then half. Now I've smoked many true or real cannabis products that were much better but for what it was it gave a pretty impressive high and tasted pretty much like reasonably decent weed the flavor I got ended up having a kind off piney undertone to it. It came on about as quick as if I smoked the same amount of good bud and it had a strong enough high that I didn't want to finish the cone but rather save some for later. Now to be fair it may have hit me harder then it might hit a regular smoker of Cannabis but that might be due to the fact circumstance for me have been such that I haven't had any real Cannabis for about 4 years or so. The high lasted about the same time as regular Cannabis but one nice surprise was that it didn't have any couchlock effect, didn't give me the munchies and while I felt high I didn't really notice any side effects like forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating or any other undesirable side effects typically associated with Cannabis.
Iwould definitely say this stuff is worth a try just so long as you make sure it's the kind derived from Hemp and not some re-emergence of the bad synthetic Marijuana of years past. I wouldn't encourage regular use of this stuff though because it's too new, too untested and too unregulated. I would also say that it's not a great substitute for the real deal but it's a satisfactory substitute if one is in a long drawn out dry spell where they can't get ahold of the real thing. It's a little pricey in my opinion but not too bad, the one pre rolled cone cost me about $6.50. I'll attach some pictures below so you can get an idea of what it looks like and so you can read the disclaimers and what not on the package.
Now like I said above it is unregulated and untested and there have been negative reports of people that did too much of it at once, not unlike first time Cannabis users that over do it. So it's something one should be cautious with. For that reason I've included a link that points out 5 important aspects to consider before using this stuff:
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consu...bout-delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol-delta-8-thc
My final verdict is that it's relatively safe and realtively enjoyable but should me be just kept as an occasional guilty pleasure when you really want to catch a buzz but you just can't find any real stuff anywhere.
Basically the approach this line of products used was they would treat legal herbs with designer drugs that had yet to be classified as illegal and this was how they could be sold legally Of course the drug would eventually be discovered and made illegal but the "designers" making the drug would just change the formula slightly so as to make it enough different from what was illegal and yet still create a high. In this way they manage to keep being sold legally for quite some time. Eventually after enough time passed and enough horror stories circulated it all became banned regardless of the chemical composition and the synthetic market died off for a while.
Well there is a new player, actually multiple players in town using a whole new approach. See the main component of Cannabis that makes it illegal is Delta 9 THC but there is a close relative that has almost the same effect just not quite as pronounced called Delta 8 THC. Now Delta 8 THC does occur naturally in Cannabis and Hemp as does Delta 9 THC but natural Delta 8 occurs in such small quantities that it's insignificant. In relatively recent times though people have learned how to synthesize Delta 8 THC from other cannabinoids that do occur naturally and in abundance but do not have any real psychoactive effect, things like CBD derived from Hemp being that this is not Delta 9 THC it skirts the Federal Scheduling of Cannabis and that combined with a recent law that was passed legalizing Hemp and all Hemp derivatives has made it possible to sell what they are calling Synthetic Marijuana that is much safer then the Synthetic Marijuana of just a couple of decades ago. You can find it in Head Shops, some Smoke Shops, some Vape Shops and yes, some gas stations. There is one condition these products have to meet to remain legal and that's that they contain .o3% or less Delta 9 THC which is true of most Hemp and why they synthesize it from Hemp/
Now I'm telling you all this because I just recently learned that these products exist and since it's based solely off of Hemp and not made by spraying designer drugs on herbs, I decided to give it a try. I got to tell you I was pleasantly surprised. I bought one pre rolled cone, you can also get it in blunt form and there are a number of edibles based off this stuff. The place where I got it from had several different flavors and it came in 3 main groups, Sativa, Indica and Hybrid. I decided to go with the Hybrid and purchased on pre rolled cone. When I got home I smoked a little bit less then half. Now I've smoked many true or real cannabis products that were much better but for what it was it gave a pretty impressive high and tasted pretty much like reasonably decent weed the flavor I got ended up having a kind off piney undertone to it. It came on about as quick as if I smoked the same amount of good bud and it had a strong enough high that I didn't want to finish the cone but rather save some for later. Now to be fair it may have hit me harder then it might hit a regular smoker of Cannabis but that might be due to the fact circumstance for me have been such that I haven't had any real Cannabis for about 4 years or so. The high lasted about the same time as regular Cannabis but one nice surprise was that it didn't have any couchlock effect, didn't give me the munchies and while I felt high I didn't really notice any side effects like forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating or any other undesirable side effects typically associated with Cannabis.
Iwould definitely say this stuff is worth a try just so long as you make sure it's the kind derived from Hemp and not some re-emergence of the bad synthetic Marijuana of years past. I wouldn't encourage regular use of this stuff though because it's too new, too untested and too unregulated. I would also say that it's not a great substitute for the real deal but it's a satisfactory substitute if one is in a long drawn out dry spell where they can't get ahold of the real thing. It's a little pricey in my opinion but not too bad, the one pre rolled cone cost me about $6.50. I'll attach some pictures below so you can get an idea of what it looks like and so you can read the disclaimers and what not on the package.
Now like I said above it is unregulated and untested and there have been negative reports of people that did too much of it at once, not unlike first time Cannabis users that over do it. So it's something one should be cautious with. For that reason I've included a link that points out 5 important aspects to consider before using this stuff:
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consu...bout-delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol-delta-8-thc
My final verdict is that it's relatively safe and realtively enjoyable but should me be just kept as an occasional guilty pleasure when you really want to catch a buzz but you just can't find any real stuff anywhere.
