Question:
I Need to know more about Spice (Fake Weed Mixes); is it bad for you in moderation?
2011-10-02 15:45:02 UTC
Ok, so I can;t smoke weed for at least the next month or two cause our school is going to do some drug testing, so about 2 weeks ago I started smoking some different "Herbal Incense Mixes."

The ingredients are all herbs/flowers that have been sprayed and fortified with "Essential Oils and Extracts??"
Now, I've researched the herbs' effects themselves and they seem pretty innocuous (Damiana, Blue Lotus, Pink Lotus, and Indian Warrior). But what do they mean by oils and extracts?

Do they just mean that the herbs are sprayed with their own extract like the way Salvia is concentrated (10x, 25x)?
Or do they mean that I'm smoking something else?
I know for a FACT that there is no synthetic THC (aka JWH) in my mix.

Now, the reason I really want to know what's in here is because, the other night while smoking (and I didn't even get that high), I had a MASSIVE panic attack.
Now I have experience with panic attacks from smoking weed, but the thing is, I have a mental security with weed that I don't have with spice. Deep down, I know that even if I have a panic attack on weed, I will NEVER die from it.

I managed to calm myself down with some deep breathing and water, but I was feeling really scared...
I only smoked like half of my usual bowl though and I wasn't very high, but I was just....not having good time for like the next 15 minutes...

I want to know if my reaction was all in my head (What I suspect. I know lots of people who smoke this stuff HEAVILY, 1-2 grams at a time) or if it could have been something physiological triggered by the ingredients.
Generally, I can justify smoking this because I have never personally known anyone to have worse reactions from spice than weed. I also know that these mixes are, indirectly, marketed as weed substitutes and are pretty safe, although not evaluated by the FDA or anything like that...

I DIGRESS:
Please, I seek information from you all as to the safety of the herbs, and what ESSENTIAL OILS/EXTRACTS is supposed to mean.

Thanks in Advance.
Three answers:
Mark T
2011-10-05 21:29:16 UTC
Hi



First of all, as usually they only list the "common or garden" ingredients rather than the "ones of interest", usually, people have no idea what herbs and oils have really been used - nor even the proportions of the ones listed.



At the risk of annoying you, I would dearly love to know how you know for a **FACT** that there is nothing synthetic added. So long as you are happy with how you know that's fine - but it has been found in a LARGE number of "all natural" blends. JWH is now illegal in many countries, but there are a whole raft of CB1 / CB2 chemicals which are not yet banned - AM2201 being one that comes instantly to mind. If this is sprayed on smoking mixture and the preparation is less than perfect, you can get "hot spots". The typical symptom of this is euphoric lift (faster than JWH used to be) but morphing more into panic / anxiety / confusion than anything else. Come down in 30 mins to 2 hours depending on how much. This product is LEGAL in most countries - and if properly used (soak not spray) is ok. As it is active sub milligram however, spraying herbal mixture is a bad mistake to make. Anyway, you are sure there is nothing synthetic so I will belt up on that.



Essential oils and extracts means ANYTHING which can be isolated from any part of the plant whatsoever. An oil is fairly specific but "extract" really could be anything from ground up bark to stamens, petals to ground up root. If you chuck half a leaf and bit of bark into a pot and make tea from it - you have prepared a herbal extract. It may be horrible, pleasant, soothing or lethal.



Just because an extract is "all natural" means practically nothing from a health and safety perspective. Digitalis is totally natural - and will kill effortlessly - ditto a whole range of extracts from things like the opium poppy, to some fungi.



I am sure you don't have much of any of the items above included - but some blends HAVE been know to add tiny amounts of things like digitalis/foxglove, strychnine and so on. Hawaiian Wood Rose seeds, ergot and morning glory could all be truthfully referred to as "extracts". Some are hallucinogens, others are stimulants. All have been found in smoking mixtures over the years.



I too digress - the simple answer is the essential oils are quite specific - it is any oil that can be extracted from the plant in question. The problem is with "extract" - which TRULY can mean absolutely EVERYTHING. If you walk down the garden, pull up the first growing thing you see and do anything to prepare it (dry it, crush it, chop it, infuse it), you are now working with an "extract" it is something "extracted" from the plant - but that could be as simple as making a tea out of it.



As for what caused the panic attack, if you normally smoke the same blend from the same supplier and everyone else seems to find the latest batch just the same as every other batch, then there is a good chance it was not related. If however you have changed suppliers or they have changed recipe or others have noticed a difference in this batch - then just possibly a new "extract" has been added to the pot.



Really sorry but with unknown material, unknown ingredients and unknown supplier using unknown recipes with unknown extracts, NOBODY is going to be able to give you a DEFINITE yes / no answer. There are just way to many unknowns.



Not trying to be unhelpful here - truly - but with the best will in the world it is as open ended as me asking you "I feel a bit odd since I had some food earlier on, was it to blame or might it be something else - I don't know what was in the food but I'm sure there isn't any X Y or Z in it" - you have NOTHING to go on. the best you could say is "might be".



Chat with other folks who use the same stuff perhaps - see if others have found it different. People who make (good) smoking mixtures tends not to list ALL their ingredients (just like cigarette companies don't have to list them all) - if they have found a few "interesting" products which make the mix more popular, they may not choose to advertise what they are using - to make it harder for the competition to copy them.



Please be just a tiny bit skeptical about what EXACTLY is in your mix - good folks can sometimes be too trusting for their own good.



Hope the next batch is more fun for you.



Mark
2016-03-01 08:12:18 UTC
There are several bible references where it is questionable whether or not they were smoking weed, using cannabis type oils or ingesting the plant to get a high or "talk to god", but its up to your own conscience to know whether you should or should not be smoking weed. Like the other person said up top, if you are going to be drug tested in your job then I would say you should definitely not smoke, but if you aren't then you shouldn't worry and smoke whenever you want! Weed is healthier in some aspects than alcohol and cigarettes but because its illegal people frown upon it. In my opinion within the next 20 years weed will be legal and it will help bring our country out of this rut, seeing the weed triples corn (our leading produce in the US) in revenue each year. I don't smoke weed but its because I'm an athlete and every time I have it has just made me lazy and want to sit around and play video games and eat a lot ha ha, but I'm sure when I'm established and have free time to be lazy I might eventually consider smoking a joint here and there! Hope this helps!
2011-10-05 12:07:36 UTC
If you can't have the real deal don't bother...............


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