Clemson Researcher John Huffman: Smoking K2 is Like Competing for The Darwin Award
The Darwin Awards are perhaps one of the most tasteless Internet memes, which explains the popularity of the idea. In a nutshell, the meme goes something like this: person does something stupid, dies in the process, and 30-year-old World of Warcraft nerds who spend their free time trolling Internet forums all laugh as they finally find someone they think they’re actually superior to. I’ve always found the glee at others’ misfortune to be fairly vile, but the term actually can come in handy when describing a risky and foolish behavior.
Like smoking a synthetic marijuana substitute you know nothing about but the creator of which claims is too dangerous to ingest recreationally.
John Huffman, the creator of the substance now being sold to your children in head shops by people who don’t care whether your kids live or die has been in the news recently trying to convince the morons that have been smoking his synthetic cannabinoid that they are putting themselves in danger:
“It’s like playing Russian roulette. You don’t know what it’s going to do to you,” Huffman said. “You’re a potential winner of a Darwin award,” referring to the tongue-in-cheek awards given to people who “do a service to humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool.”
In addition to the compound being made without strict quality control or any regulation, as far as anyone knows, the compound itself has never been tested on humans. And when it was tested on mice, Huffman said, the animals were euthanized at the end of the experiment, so scientists don’t even know how it affects mice long-term. “And mice are not humans,” Huffman said.
Doesn’t sound like the kind of thing you want in your body. So what is K2 anyway?
This K2 compound was first created in the mid-1990s in the lab of organic chemist John W. Huffman of Clemson University, who studies cannabinoid receptors. He’s not sure how the recipe for what is named JWH-018 (his initials) got picked up, but he did publish details on a series of compounds including JWH-018 in a book chapter. Even before that book came out, he recalls learning that in China and Korea people were selling the compound as a plant growth stimulant.
As for where it was first smoked or used as a recreational drug, Huffman thinks perhaps somewhere in Europe.
“Apparently somebody picked it up, I think in Europe, on the idea of doping this incense mixture with the compound and smoking it,” Huffman told LiveScience. “You can get very high on it. It’s about 10 times more active than THC,” the active ingredient in marijuana.
From a chemist’s perspective, that means K2 has an affinity for the cannabinoid brain receptor (CB1) that’s about 10 times greater than THC. For the less chemically inclined, it means you can smoke a lot less K2 to get just as high.
[...]
Since JWH-018 or K2 acts like marijuana, you’d expect to see the same effects, including sleepiness, relaxation, reduced blood pressure, and at high doses, hallucinations and delusions.
While some patients between the ages of 14 and 21 were showing up with hallucinations, other symptoms, such as increased agitation and elevated blood pressure and heart rates, didn’t match up with marijuana.
(Dr. Anthony) Scalza speculates either another compound is responsible for the nasty side effects, or the concentration of JWH-018 is too high.
Unfortunately we won’t know anytime soon because Dr. Scalza, a professor of toxicology studying an epidemic of emergency room visits by K2 users, is having trouble getting said stoners to consent to having their urine and blood examined.
Huffman has another interview in The Greenville News that has more in depth information on the dangers of this fake pot. Smoke it at your own risk.
Comments
7 Responses to “Clemson Researcher John Huffman: Smoking K2 is Like Competing for The Darwin Award”
Leave a Reply
I understand your desire to plaster the idiocy of trying a drug that hasn’t been tested or approved by the FDA, but the one single flaw in all of this seems to be your lack of a desire to realize that most, if not all legal drugs have many insane side-affects far worse than a rapid heart-beat. Keep in mind that Dr. Scalza has an extensive history in anti-drug propoganda, automatically disqualifiying him as a dependable source for scientific research or even facts for that matter. True, this synthetic drug may be 10 times stronger than most marijuana on the market, but I can vouche as someone who has tried both the “street grade” marijuana, top-grade 17th-generation marijuana and the syntheticized marijuana in this topic and while they all induce a similar high, and can produce paranoia and an increased heart-rate… any experienced individual wouldn’t bother going to the emergency room. These kids that did this (mentioned in the greenville news link you provided) were nothing more than inexperienced teenagers that had no clue what to expect anyway and had a panic attack when it wasn’t just all happy-fun-time. Anyway, the effects of abusing any drug can be negative, but synthetic marijuana is, at the very most, a mild sedative that doesn’t do anything more than some NYC Diesel (a strand of marijuana) – which produces an increased heart rate and a bit of paranoia at first, which can simply be relieved by getting your lazy butt up and doing some house work. Not that I’m suggesting anyone go out and try it, but none of those kids died or even had any severe problems after they were calmed down. Life goes on and this over-analyzed news remains unnecessarily dramatized.
If you bothered to read the research, including papers written by the person who literally created the stuff, you’d see that you’re wrong. But more importantly, your comment makes it sound like you’re an adult but you’re basically demanding that people not criticize you smoking some substance that was never supposed to be smoked. This doesn’t sound like how a “adult” would act.
When are you going to grow up and stop looking for ways to get high? What’s next, gonna spread toothpaste on cigarettes to get a buzz? Do a little huffing? Play the choking game?
Go back to Coffee Underground moron.
Hey mr rob taylor why don’t you do some research before you open your mouth about things you have no clue about. John Huffman in all of his reports stated thar he has no clue what the effects are on humans. Honestly I think he is just trying cover his tracks so he’s not held reliable for anything, meanwhile he’s sitting back drinking martinis making bank off of selling his synthesis to companies and off the chemical use itself. Considering the fact that this chem binds to the cb1 and cb2 receptors it acts exactly like thc the chemical in marijuana. That being said there probably are not any effects differently than that of marijauna considering in 4 yrs of this stuff on the shelves not a single death has occured. 160 have only been documented in this time to have bad side effects. These anxiety side effects and increase in blood pressure are the same side effects reported from marijuana use by usually first time users or occasional users who got a stronger strain whith more potent thc levels. Might I add that there are no documented deaths whatsoever and never has been any from marijuana or any substances alike. Edit: No Spam Aloud this article sums it up prefectly that cigarettes, bad diets and being unhealthy, and our favorite ALCOHOL are the leading causes of death in the US. Funny thing is bad diet and being unhealthy/OBESITY is the second leading cause of death. Are you fat? Are you healthy? Better be otherwise your dead. Did you know that doctors, lawyers, and the makers of the music you probably listen to smoke weed? Are they “immature” and in need of growing up. Some of the most successful people in this country most likely smoke weed with anual salaries you will never see. Point is toxic household chemicals are more likely to kill someone than these herbal blends and the compounds they contain. Rob my friend you are a debbie downer and its people like you who make other’s lives boring I would love to hear what you do for fun on a daily basis. I would rather my son smoke this or maurijauna than smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol because those things are actually PROVEN to have long term effects such as DEATH!!!!! Better join a gym and eat right or you’ll be in the hospital dieing next to someone who is about to check out for a minor anxiety attack from Herbal Blends
[...] moron, who coincidentally hated my post about K2 being bad for you, sent this to me claiming it was proof of my fascism. I’ll point out that I actually [...]
Well guys, I agree and disagree with both of you,
I believe that each individual should do what they feel comfortable with.
I personally don’t want to try synthetic anything, because I believe, even though some strands of marijuana are cross bread or specially grown, they are natural and the way that God intended them to be. There is a natural herb for all illness and disease. They haven’t even all been found or there would be no cancer or aids. That being said. If an intelligent educated adult makes a decision to smoke either/or, then they shouldn’t judge or be judged. Accept that each of us are individuals and as far as I am concerned marijuana was meant to be a peaceful and relaxing assistant and it just so happens one of the ways of consuming it, is to smoke it but it isn’t the only way. Don’t forget that some doctors do prescribe it legally. More than you realize. Marijuana is not always prescribed in cigarette form either. Just some plain old realism to throw in the mix. Call it something to think about….. Thanks.
There is something really appalling about the author’s position towards the personal responsibility of merchants to consumers.
He characterizes the employees of head shops as amoral poisoners of children, yet I would be surprised if he feels similarly about the cashiers at a local fast food chain. Or the CEOs of said companies who almost certainly abstain from their own products?
The shot at WoW players in their 30s is similarly puzzling. Perhaps this journalist is upset by the disparity between his wages and those who pursued a more technical **cough**useful**cough** field.
Women’s Studies 101? Only a moron would claim getting high and fast food are the same thing. In this case the man who INVENTED what you claim is harmless is flat out telling you that you shouldn’t smoke it.
But hey, that’s just part of the Judeo-Capitalist narrative of patriarchal oppression right?
Moron.