Re: Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to 'Spice' drug
http://www.promedmail.org/
Published Date: 2012-03-03 21:39:33
Subject: PRO/EDR> 'Spice' designer drug - USA: (WY) kidney failure
Archive Number: 20120303.1059882
'SPICE' DESIGNER DRUG ? USA: (WYOMING) KIDNEY FAILURE
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Fri 2 March 2012
Source: Chicago Tribune [edited]
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-usa-drugillnessl2e8e30qg-20120302,0,1507307.story
Three young people have been hospitalized with kidney failure and a dozen others sickened in Casper, Wyoming, in an outbreak linked to a batch of the designer drug Spice, authorities said on Friday [2 Mar 2012].
State medical officials said the cause of the outbreak was under investigation but that Casper residents who sought medical treatment for vomiting and back pain had recently smoked or ingested a chemical-laced herbal product packaged as "blueberry spice."
The illnesses reported by physicians and hospitals in the Wyoming city beginning last Sunday [26 Feb 2012] added up to a cluster that alarmed health officials by the end of the week.
"At this point, we are viewing use of this drug as a potentially life-threatening situation," Tracy Murphy, Wyoming state epidemiologist, said in a statement.
Those who have fallen ill range in age from the late teens to early 20s and all used blueberry-flavored Spice, said Bob Herrington, director of the Casper-Natrona County Health
[By Laura Zuckerman]
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[On March 1, 2011, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration invoked its "emergency scheduling authority" to make most "legal high" products illegal. The relatively inactive herbs used in these products are spiked with potent designer drugs. The DEA action applies to five of these drugs: JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol. The drugs are now on the DEA's Schedule I, meaning they have no accepted medical use and high potential for abuse. The emergency action will remain in effect for a year, during which time the government is expected to call for permanent control of the drugs.
Some smokable herbal mixtures under the brand name Spice, or K2 drugs have been sold on the Internet and in specialized shops (smart shops) since 2004. The mixtures are advertised as an exotic incense blend which releases a rich aroma and not for human consumption. When smoked, Spice drug products have been reported by some users to have effects similar to those of cannabis. Spice drugs have received intensive attention in drug forums due to the possibility to obtain a non legal substitute for cannabis. Forensic analyses have found different potent synthetic cannabinoid agonists in some Spice drug products, as JWH-018, CP 47497, JWH-073 and HU-210, which are synthetic cannabinoids. There are few data about its pharmacological properties in animals, but nothing about its toxicity. At present, almost nothing is known about the pharmacology, toxicology and safety profile of such compounds in humans, except the opinions of consumers in internet forums. Neither the herbal ingredients of Spice drugs, nor any of the synthetic cannabinoids found in them, are internationally controlled under the 1961 or 1971 UN drug control conventions. Some European countries have recently taken legal actions to ban or otherwise control Spice drug products and related compounds. These cannabinoid substances can be considered as new products to be added to the list of 'designer drugs'.
Package labels feature psychedelic art and claim that the contents are a mixture of various herbs. But unlike smoking the herbs listed on the label, smoking the products produces effects similar to those of marijuana, hashish, and other forms of cannabis.
Hospitals in Europe have reported individuals with clinical signs of cannabis intoxication, but a negative drug screen. However, it is a pharmacologically active product, and only now are we learning that some of those properties may have potent and even lethal effects for organs and potentially for the individual.
The synthetic cannabinoids bind to CB1 and CB2 receptors in the brain which can cause immune problems in addition to hormone imbalances, and neurological excitement, dangerous increases in heart rate, blood pressure and even classical drug dependence issues. There may well be other problems and toxicities that are presently unknown. Kidney failure may be the result of toxicity from one or more use of the product or from other products within this designer drug, supposedly made of synthetics or other herbal products.
Now, many European nations have deemed this to be an illegal product, which the US DEA also did in 2011.
Portions of this comment have been extracted from:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19718488 [Spice drugs: cannabinoids as a new designer drugs. [Article in Spanish] Mustata C, Torrens M, Pardo R, P?rez C; Psychonaut Web Mapping Group, Farr? M. Adicciones. 2009;21(3):181-6, and from:
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20100305/k2-spice-gold-herbal-incense-faq
Wyoming may be found on the interactive healthmap at:
http://healthmap.org/r/1wFy - Mod.TG
