The last two decades have seen a dramatic increase in synthetic drug production and use. These drugs are designed in laboratories to mimic the effects of naturally derived drugs. As such, almost any drug that can be derived from natural sources has one or more synthetic counterparts. These include synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic stimulants, and synthetic opioids.
What are synthetic drugs?
What has led to the rise of synthetic drug manufacturing? For one, they may be cheaper and easier to manufacture. More importantly, they don’t use illicit substances that are federally regulated, making it easier to skirt legal drug bans. These drugs are known as new psychoactive substances (NPS).
The difference between synthetic drugs and designer drugs
Both synthetic and designer drugs are engineered in a laboratory using a variety of chemical processes. The difference is that synthetic drugs may have legitimate medical purposes. Many commonly used pharmaceutical treatments, like Adderall or Fentanyl, are synthetic drugs. Despite being manufactured for legitimate medical purposes, synthetic drugs are often abused and may even be produced illicitly for recreational use.
Designer drugs are a specific class of synthetic drugs that are created expressly to produce a high that mimics that of other controlled substances through chemical manipulation. By avoiding the use of illegal substances, the resulting drug avoids regulation. For example, a synthetic stimulant that emulates the effects of cocaine may be sold legally since it does not actually contain cocaine.
Synthetic Cannabinoids
Synthetic cannabinoids are created to mimic the high of THC, which is the main psychoactive component of marijuana. Though the effects of natural cannabis may be mild, due to the way they’re manufactured, synthetic cannabinoids are often more potent and have longer-lasting effects. This makes them unpredictable and potentially dangerous.
Some unpleasant side effects of synthetic cannabinoids include tremors, agitation, elevated heart rate and blood pressure, vomiting, and seizures. They may also result in delusions and hallucinations. Synthetic cannabinoids may be known illicitly as K2 or Spice.
Synthetic Opioids
Synthetic opioids include prescription painkillers as well as illicitly produced substances that mimic the effects of powerful opioid drugs. Commonly used synthetic opioids include fentanyl, W-18, and U-47700. These drugs have an analgesic effect on the brain, reducing sensations of pain and producing sedation and euphoria. Because they can significantly reduce activity of the nervous system and other essential bodily functions, they are associated with high risk of overdose.
Synthetic Stimulants
Synthetic stimulants speed up nervous system activity, leading to increased energy and alertness. Commonly used synthetic stimulants include methamphetamine and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine). Also known as ecstasy or molly, MDMA is commonly abused in club parties and music festivals.
Synthetic stimulant use can lead to adverse effects including elevated heart rate and blood pressure, anxiety, dehydration, aggressiveness, paranoia, and delusions. The effects of synthetic stimulant use may be unpredictable because the drugs may be cut with other substances in illicit laboratories.
Synthetic Cathinones
Synthetic cathinones are designed to produce effects similar to those of the khat plant, which is regulated by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). They are known illicitly as bath salts, plant food, or jewelry cleaner. Synthetic cathinones have a stimulating effect on the nervous system and create resulting side effects such as paranoia, delirium, panic, hallucinations, and potentially violent behavior.
The control of synthetic substances
Synthetic drugs may evade regulation in two ways: by omitting ingredients that are classed as controlled substances by the DEA and by purposefully mislabeling themselves to allow them to be sold legally. This makes it easy to create and distribute these substances outside the purview of the law.
Through chemical alterations, synthetic drugs may continuously update their formula to evade legal bans. This way, drugs that are not technically considered illegal are readily available to the general public even though their effects are the same or more potent than known and regulated illicit substances.
Another way these substances evade legal control is by being marketed as products that have an everyday or research use. For example, they may be sold as research chemicals or cleaning products not intended for human consumption. This way, drug enforcement agencies may be unable to ban their manufacture or sale. This is why some of these synthetic drugs are known as plant food or jewelry cleaner.
Risks of synthetic drug use
Synthetic drugs may be more potent and dangerous than the illicit drugs they are meant to reproduce. In addition to chemical processes that may lead to higher concentrations of psychoactive components, it’s also difficult to know what other substances were mixed in the production of synthetic drugs. So what may be perceived as relatively harmless because it’s supposed to mimic marijuana may have severe side effects if it was mixed with a more dangerous element like PCP.
Since many of these synthetic and designer drugs are created illicitly by amateur chemists, it’s difficult to determine the potency of any particular drug. Even when obtained from the same source, the chemical makeup may be altered over time, leading to unexpected effects.
Synthetic Drug FAQs
Are synthetic drugs legal?
Many well-known synthetic drugs are controlled by the US DEA. States have also independently imposed bans on certain synthetic drugs. However, because they change relatively frequently, not all synthetic drugs are illegal.
Can synthetic drug use cause me to fail a drug test?
Because their chemical compounds are always changing, it’s difficult to accurately test for and detect synthetic drugs. However, major organizations including hospitals and schools include synthetic drugs as part of their drug testing.
Are synthetic drugs safer than their natural counterparts?
Synthetic drugs are not any safer, even if they are not technically illegal. In fact, they may be even more potent and dangerous than their natural counterparts, causing unexpectedly potent effects.
