Synthetic Marijuana Short-Term Effects

“I want to share my experience with K2. It ruined my life. When I tried smoking K2 for the first time, it was like everything dissolved into what seemed like the fuzz on the TV screen. I remember thinking, ‘This is what hell is.’ All I could feel was awful fear. I heard voices of family members, flashbacks to when I was younger—it was the worst experience I’ve ever had. I was shaking horribly, and I felt terrified and sick. Ever since that day, I have had awful anxiety on a daily basis. I had to quit school because my anxiety was so bad.” —J.W.

“After using Spice for several weeks, I woke up early one night, fell to the floor, couldn’t move my legs and couldn’t move my hips. All I could do was drag myself by my forearms. I laid on the floor for 13 hours screaming, pounding the floor, asking for help. Doctors say another two hours and I would have been dead. I’m going to be in the hospital for a long time to come.” —L.D.

“I overdosed on Spice and I haven’t been the same since. I was just sitting there smoking until it all hit me. I couldn’t see straight or walk, and then I threw up about six or seven times. I woke my mom up, and she laid me down on the couch and called an ambulance. About 10 minutes before the ambulance showed up, I started to have seizures. I woke up in a hospital bed on life support. I had gone into cardiac arrest* for a few hours, and they thought I wasn’t going to wake up. I survived it, but I have not been the same. I stutter a lot now and I can’t concentrate on anything. I’ll be telling a story and just go blank and not know what happened. I always see these dots, and I am just not all there anymore.” —D.Y.

“I am a former Spice addict. I became hooked while on probation. I went from a gram or less a day to over three or four a day. As my addiction progressed, my motor skills and ability to control basic behaviors deteriorated. I grew more aggressive when I got upset, which became more frequent the more and longer I used. One morning I had a psychotic break, during which I blacked out and almost killed my wife. I was arrested, and my probation was revoked. Since being released, I share my experience with others to encourage them not to use this drug.” —S.W.