New-Onset Psychosis Linked to Synthetic Marijuana Use (Spice)

[Daniel E.]

Synthetic Cannabinoid Use Common Among Pot Smokers
Medscape, April 27, 2012

About 50% of marijuana users have tried synthetic cannabis, and 22% continued using these synthetic products after a federal ban was enacted in early 2011, a new survey shows...

 

[David Baxter PhD]

That's pretty scary.

 

[Daniel E.]

30 hospitalized by tainted spice
May 10, 2012

DEKALB COUNTY, Alabama -- Investigators in DeKalb and Cherokee counties said at least 30 people between 16 and 30 years old have kidney damage because of synthetic drugs.

In a joint press conference, the district attorneys of DeKalb and Cherokee counties said they believe the spice was laced with poison or pesticides.

DeKalk County District Attorney Michael O'Dell said the spice dealer could face assault and attempted murder charges when caught.

O'Dell said the spice users were hospitalized within the last three weeks with kidney failure. A teenage patient will be on permanent dialysis for life.

The FBI could be brought in to the investigation. Authorities are contacting the health departments to see if there are more victims.

Investigators are working to find the tainted spice. Once it's found, it will be sent to a lab for testing where it will be top priority.

An emergency ban on synthetic marijuana went into effect in Alabama in October, 2011. The law banning spice went into effect Thursday, ten days after Governor Robert Bentley signed it. Those caught with the drug face possession of a controlled substance, a class C felony...

 

[swtadline]

I'm high on spice right now. It's the only way I have the courage to write that. It's like, when I'm on it I'm thinking clearly, and when I'm sober I am making dumb decisions like smoke it. I fear I am addicted to this spice. I have been smoking it every day for 2 months. I think I may need help to quit it but I'm not ready yet. My life is too screwed up to have nothing.

---------- Post Merged at 06:48 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:25 PM ----------

you can call me Shelby. I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, OCD, and Borderline Personality Disorder. about early August of this year, I was given a sample of "spice" from a smoker's store. A few weeks later a friend and I were smoking pot and we ran out. I remembered the sample and thought, "yeah, right, this probably won't get us high," cuz it's legal to buy. Boy was I happy to be wrong! It felt like the second or third time I ever got high on pot, about a year before. It was like the time it first really hit me. It was so much fun, it felt so good, like a warm, fuzzy feeling. Very euphoric. It also, I noticed, made me very horny! I looked at the ingredients on the bottle and it said 100% high quality damiana. so I looked up damiana. All it said was that it has been used for years as an aphrodisiac. Boy is that true! It makes me tingle all over and almost like I'm having orgasms without moving from my chair! I'm high right now while writing this because it's the only way I have the courage to write all this. My thinking is somewhat clear and somewhat fuzzy right now. It is wierd. I have one song running through my mind right now, over and over. It is "Strong Enough" by Sheryl Crow. I noticed today that that song, which I've always loved, totally described my love-life...

---------- Post Merged at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:25 PM ----------

I'm so tired of being alone, yet I"m surrounded by friends and family. This is what it is like when you are manic depressive. At least on here I have someone to talk to.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Are you aware of the risk for enduring psychotic reactions that can occur as a result of using this drug? Is it really worth risking your sanity and your future for a momentary high?

Are you seeing a psychiatrist, psychologist, or other therapist, Shelby? Are you taking any prescribed medications? or just self-medicating?

 

[swtadline]

I'm tired of being unnoticed. I have tried the last few years to work and everytime I do, I have a panic/anxiety attack 3 weeks into the job. I havent had a real job in probably a few years also. I tried to get on disability like 3 times and they kept turning me down. At this moment I am online trying to get a "date" for an hour. It's all I know how to do to keep sane, is try to make some money. The only way I know how. I am still high on the spice right now.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Do you have a doctor or mental health professional helping you with your disability application? You need the sort of documentation they can provide.

What about my other questions above?

 

[swtadline]

Yes I'm aware I just dont seem to care right now. But I think that's why i'm writing this to you. I'm trying to do it while high because it's the only way I have the courage to write to anyone about my current problems. No it's not worth it. Butyet I do it. I'm seeing someone sort of; I went into a crisis center last week or so and talked to someone then this morning I went to the counseling center and all they did was an intake on me, then gave me another appointment next week. I have been prescribed a form of welbutrin, a form of effexor and a form of Abilify.

---------- Post Merged at 07:24 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:07 PM ----------

no I dont really have anyone helping me truly helping me.

---------- Post Merged at 07:28 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:07 PM ----------

I'm so high right now. I'm just typing what I'm thinking. I'm sitting here with a friend, watching some movie with James Stewart. It's got about only half my attention. I'm turned on right now too. This stuff feels so good. I dont like that I love it so much.

---------- Post Merged at 07:41 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:07 PM ----------

I had my boyfriend take it away from me on Saturday night. I didnt smoke any yesterday except what I could get out of the resin in the pipe. Today I decided it had been long enough and I just bought some more.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I think you know what you need to do, what has to be step #1, don't you?

 

[swtadline]

I'm going to the bar in a few to see my new girlfriend Sadie. I let her try the spice the other night. She flipped out about the third time she hit it. I don't think she'll smoke it again. which is good. because I dont want to addict someone to it . Now that I've read tonight on the internet do I know it is bad for me. I need to stop. I'll be back online in a couple hours to write more. but right now I'm going to go see Sadie, and since I'm turned on by the spice right now all I can think about is wanting to be with her. We just met recently, and she is so beautiful... why is that turning me on? I should be with just my boyfriend.

---------- Post Merged at 07:57 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:56 PM ----------

Step one is admit I think I smoke it too much.

---------- Post Merged at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:56 PM ----------

I just got back from the bar, and I took my best buddy with me, Martin. I introduced him to Sadie. we all talked soberly about our experience with spice. He said he didnt like that he would sometimes feel his heart palpitate. Sadie says she didn't like the overreaction that she had on it but loved the rest of it.

---------- Post Merged at 10:12 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:56 PM ----------

I'm watching American Dad right now. It's extra funny tonight for some reason, lol. Its' about Stan having Francine's mind erased. King of the Hill was on earlier too, that was pretty funny. I'm trying to stay as high as I can for some reason.

---------- Post Merged at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:56 PM ----------

I'm in love with 2 men. They are both Native American. One is older and wiser, one is younger and for some reason fascinates me, I can't seem to break free of his spell. I know I'm rambling on right now but I'm high on spice so I don't care what I write. I'd just like someone to talk to, and listen to me for once. How it feels to be bi-polarl and have BPD at the same time and have a "low".

---------- Post Merged at 10:55 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:56 PM ----------

The older one we'll just call Bear. He's in his early 50s and the most fearless man I've ever met. I met him earlier this year. He's my only hope for getting truly better and off this drug. He says he's always loved me, even though we dated and dated others at the same time. I was also "working" as well. I hope he will give me the courage to stop doing this.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Substance use and abuse is not going to help anything. Are you taking any prescribed medications for bipolar disorder and/or BPD?

 

[swtadline]

Today is Friday. I was bad the other night and tried cocaine during a 4 way with 3 guys I'd just met. I felt bad about it the next day and told my friend Bear about it. He helped me stay away from the spice and the sex for the last few days. I know he is what's best for me right now, having someone to be able to talk to and help me stay away but I know it's ultimately my choice. I dont know how long I can last, I broke down yesterday and had some more spice. I didnt have any sex for money but I'm telling you the temptation is overwhelming. Especially since I have no money right now. I'm down to the last of the spice, too. I just dont know what to do with myself anymore. There's the right thing and the wrong thing. There's what I should and what I want to do. It's hard to do the right thing every single day when your mind is always up or down.

 

[kbass5005]

What type of help should families try to get for someone who is psychotic from spice. I have an 18 year old who wants to do everything on his own and is refusing help. We did get him to see his pediatrician and I was told I may have to do tough love-kick my psychotic son out on the street if he does not calm down or get help. He was hospitalized for 3 days in a psychiatric ward but was not a danger to himself or anyone else. He was released after the 72 hour hold. We attempted to get him into rehabilitation but the facility would not admit him because of the delusions, bizarre thoughts.

So what do we do? I have no trust in the medical field at this point. I am being told he was probably predisposed to a mental illness even though we have no history of mental illness in the family. We cannot do anything for him since he is 18 and refusing help. I feel no one really wants to deal with this situation. I am beginning to lose hope that he will recover since no one is lifting a hand to help, everyone seems clueless about this spice and I am being told by 2 health professionals that this is how he is going to be probably for the rest of his life.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Is he still using spice? Is he still using other street drugs?

I haven't dealt with this myself but substance induced psychotic reactions are not necessarily or not always permanent. What I have learned about spice reactions is that they can take some time to normalize, i.e., weeks or months rather than days depending on the severity of the reaction. But that of course assumes the individual doesn't continue to use spice in the interim.

While it is true that some individuals predisposed to schizophrenia may trigger a first episode psychotic reaction due to street drugs, and while that may be the case for your son, again it is not necessarily the case. The symptoms of substance induced psychosis are very similar to those of schizophrenia and really the only way to definitively tell the difference is to see what happens over time.

Finding help for someone who doesn't want it is difficult at the best of times. As you have learned, the only way he can be admitted as an involuntary patient is if he poses an immediate threat to self or others, or if he is arrested for a criminal code offense and is issued a court order to comply with treatment. Sadly, that is the state of western law currently. The intent is of course prevent abuses within the system; the outcome sadly means that individuals with little or no insight into their illness often go without the treatment they need.

 

[kbass5005]

He says he is not using now. I do not think he is, he is either staying at our house or his grandmothers' apartment. He was given risperidone after he left the hospital but he refuses to take it and I am not going to force him (as if I could). I am a little apprehensive anyway since no one really seems to know anything about what was actually in the stuff he smoked-does he really need another substance in his body. He had also told me he had gotten Vyvanse from a friend or friends at school during the school year to help him concentrate- he was unaware that the marijuana and spice he was using was causing a lot of his inability to concentrate. When he is at home he is either angry and delusional. Sometimes he starts to laugh, later he will cry. He has been outside rapping at the top of his lungs. I am reading some books to help me deal with the behaviors because I have not reacted well at times. i have screamed at him to shut up when he is loud. I have called the police when he cornered me and yelled at me- making him more angry and distrustful of me. I feel like all his normal issues are magnified by a thousand. He wants to be on his own and support himself-the delusion is he is going to be a rapper and sign a contract with a famous rapper and I am keeping him from doing that. It has been very hard to listen to him rant- he will just talk and talk and talk- if you do not agree with him he feels we are not being supportive, if we do support him he gets suspicious and argues about something else. My biggest fear is he will not recover and be able to have a normal life.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I sympathize, kbass. There's little you can do that you're not already doing. The rest is about trying to stay hopeful and giving it time.

 

[kbass5005]

Karri, i am noticing with my son that any stressful event leads to an increase in psychotic behavior, increased paranoia. My son continues to use marijuana and refuse any kind of treatment.

 

[kbass5005]

I am hoping you are doing well. My son is still recevering. He refuses treatment. He continues to be psychotic. We had him committed and he was in the hosptial for 7 days. He was discharged on Haldol. He is having jaw pain. He continues to be psychotic. I am worried the Haldol is casuing his jaw pain.

---------- Post Merged at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:10 PM ----------

Hi Karri- I hope yourdaughter is doing well. Everything you have said about her applies to my son. I am praying for him and all the people affected by this horrible drug. I have come to realize that substance abuse and addiction is a disease.

 

[kbass5005]

My son has been off drugs for a week. Today he bagan saying "I'm a ******" over and over and then laughing. At first I thought he might be using again but then I wondered if his antipsychotic shot is wearing off. He refuses medicine and just got out of the psych ward 3 days ago. He started "rapping loudly" basically just stringing swear words together. The he rode his bike into traffic to get away form me. He is also saying bizarre things on facebook- sexual things, talking about how everyone hates him. My husband sys just relax- Son has been gone for 3 hours. After riding his bike out in traffic I worry he might do some other dangerous things help!

 

[David Baxter PhD]

If you are worried about him posing a threat to himself or others, you can call 9-1-1 and ask the police to escort him back to the ER for assessment. But as you've already seen, that's a revolving door. They can only hold him long enough to settle him down on medications. Then they have to release him. If he then refuses the medication, he will of course deteriorate until he is once again unstable enough for another involuntary admission. And that cycle continues over and over.

It is the state of current legislation regarding right to refuse treatment. It is supposed to preserve civil liberties but it assumes that it is protecting those civil liberties for individuals who have insight into their own illness or condition. Clearly, individuals with psychotic illnesses lack that insight and judgment, and as a result the system fails them over and over again.

I wish I could give you a more optimistic picture. Sometimes, the best you can hope for is that the patient will commit a minor crime and receive a court treatment order as a disposition. That may keep him on medication long enough for him yo be able to achieve some insioght and clarit.

See:

Anosognosia - Wikipedia

Anosognosia - Treatment Advocacy Center

NAMI | Anosognosia (Lack of Insight) NAMI Fact Sheet