Online Sales and Use of Synthetic Cannabinoids

Preliminary findings from a Norwegian study

Ola Røed BilgreiAnne Line Bretteville-Jensen

SIRUS

New psychoactive substances

Defined as narcotic or psychotropic drugs that are

not controlled by United Nations Conventions, but

which may pose a public health threat comparable to

that posed by controlled drugs (EMCDDA).

The world of ”Legal highs”

• Mimics the effect of established narcotics

– Synthetic cathinones (amphetamines, cocaine,

MDMA)

– Synthetic cocaine derivates (cocaine)

– Synthetic cannabinoids (cannabis)

– Salvia divinorum, Kratom etc.

The world of ”Legal highs”

– Research chemicals

– Plant food

– Bath salt

– Exotic incense

– Room odourisers

– Pond cleaners

– Party pills

– Ethnobotanicals

– Herbal highs

– Smoking blends

Synthetic cannabinoids

JWH-018 was nothing special, but it was one of the more potent

compounds we made, and it was quite easy to make from

commercially available materials. Probably the reason it has

now caught on. (...) My biggest surprise was that this all

hadn't happened sooner. All it needed was somebody with a

reasonable understanding of science to see the papers we had

published and think, 'Aha!’.

- John W. Huffman

Synthetic cannabinoids

• Appeared on the online market in 2004

• Sold as organic herbs with an alleged cannabis-like effect

– ‘Spice’

• Contained the synthetic cannabinoids JWH-018 and CP-47,497

• Widely available throughout the Internet

– In smoking mixtures and as a highly potent powder

Background

• 690 new websites between January 2010 and

January 2012.

• 150 new substances between 1997 and 2010.

• Reports of 49 new substances in 2011.

Methods

• Mixed methods

– Quantitative (still waiting for results)

• A representative sample of adults

• Experiences of buying synthetic cannabinoids through the Internet

– Qualitative

• 12 interviews (so far)

• Aged 15 – 29 years old (all male)

• All had smoked synthetic cannabinoids

• Active members in a online drug-related discussion forum

Preliminary findings

• Reasons to smoke synthetic cannabinoids

– Cheap

– Strong potency

– Easy availability

– Legal

– No detection on drug screenings

The role of the Internet

– If you have a mailbox and a computer, you can buy whatever

kind of drug you like.

– On the drug-related forums, people post a variety of ‘trip-

reports’, where they describe the effect of the purported

drug. It was on these kind of sites I first heard about ‘Spice’.

The price was a main factor

– It’s practically for free. I guess you would use more money

on the things you eat while you’re high, than on getting

high. We don’t think about money when it comes to JWH.

It’s never a problem, cause you know you’ll have enough

for three months when you buy.

Strong potency and easy availability

– It’s basically the effect, how good it is compared to the

dosage. It hits you so fast, and I kind of like that.

– Where I live it’s quite difficult to get your hands on hash or

cannabis, so that was why I started out with synthetic

cannabinoids.

Legality

– I’ve never been caught doing anything illegal, I

have a clean record and I don’t want that to

change. So I tried to find an alternative to

cannabis.

No detection on drug screenings

– I was enrolled at an institution where they had drug

screening tests every now and then. At that time I smoked

cannabis, but I had to stop because THC would be

detected. Then I found out that they couldn't check for

synthetic cannabinoids, that’s basically why I started.

Risk perception and the role of Internet

– I did a lot of research by myself, read a lot of trip-reports and tips

on dosage and stuff like that. It’s really important for me to have

an overview of how the drug works before I try it.

– You know, we try different drugs, analyze the effect and post it on

the web, so that others can learn. And I’m pretty confident that an

honest web society with a lot of users, can provide just as good

information about drugs as, for example our own government.

Changes due to an online market

• Indicates a major change in drug culture

– Development of a new subculture?

• Users seem to have a fascination also for other synthesized

drugs

• Changes the drug related economy

• Difficult to ban, because new substances keeps adding to the

market