The NFL and the NFL Players’ Association have officially added synthetic marijuana to the list of banned substances. Players will be tested for synthetic marijuana, also known as “spice,” “K2,” and “blaze,” just like any of the other nine substances on the banned list, including marijuana.

Synthetic marijuana is a growing trend in the U.S., and refers to a few different kinds of products. According to the NIH:

Synthetic cannabinoids refer to a growing number of man-made mind-altering chemicals that are either sprayed on dried, shredded plant material so they can be smoked (herbal incense) or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes and other devices (liquid incense).

These chemicals are called cannabinoids because they are related to chemicals found in the marijuana plant. Because of this similarity, synthetic cannabinoids are sometimes misleadingly called ‘synthetic marijuana’ (or ‘fake weed’), and they are often marketed as ‘safe,’ legal alternatives to that drug. In fact, they may affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana; their actual effects can be unpredictable and, in some cases, severe or even life-threatening.

Synthetic marijuana has been all over the news a lot lately–a massive group overdose on K2 in Brooklyn, New York this summer worried many observers. Thirty-three people were hospitalized in that incident. Synthetic marijuana, due to the fact that it can be produced in different formulas, is hard to render illegal. Once one particular combination is outlawed, another pops up.

There have been a couple recent instances of players behaving strangely after taking synthetic marijuana. Chandler Jones, who was on the New England Patriot’s roster at the time but was later traded to the Arizona Cardinals, was hospitalized after having a bad reaction to the drug. Derrick Coleman, who plays for the Seattle Seahawks also allegedly took synthetic marijuana before becoming involved in a hit-and-run accident.

The NFL and NFLPA also released a few other changes to the drug policies, including the rule that any drug tests in the offseason use samples that are produced no more than four hours after the players are notified. According to the Denver Post, the list of banned performance enhancing drugs now includes “growth hormone secretagogues and growth hormone-releasing hormones and peptides.”

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The scene at the border of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick neighborhoods Tuesday afternoon looked like something out of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” Dozens of people  were slumped over in the streets, while some were staggering and bracing themselves against buildings–unable to stand up straight. The bizarre behavior was the result of a mass overdose on K2, also known as synthetic marijuana or spice, at the corner of Broadway and Myrtle–the epicenter of the drug’s epidemic was dubbed “Zombieland” by residents and cops.

33 people hospitalized after calls about mass K2 overdose in Brooklyn: NYPD https://t.co/BUxMuVKOU5 via @NBCNewYork pic.twitter.com/psIO3zHPC3

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 13, 2016

According to the New York Times, a spokesman for the Fire Department said eight people were taken from the Stockton Street area to Woodhull Medical Center suffering from “altered mental states,” lethargy and respiratory issues around 9:40 AM. Others were found in the surrounding area.

UPDATE: 33 people overdose on K2 in BedStuy Tues.; many seen collapsed on sidewalk https://t.co/MwNfe3PA8T pic.twitter.com/LiehXm5Kib

— Aidan Gardiner (@AidanGardiner) July 13, 2016

After the initial call, more and more people began to surface in the intersection exhibiting erratic behavior. Some were confrontational, fighting police, while others appeared to be paralyzed by the drug’s effects.

Brian Arthur, 38, streamed the scene live on Facebook. Warning, the video contains some vulgar language.

K2 has quickly grown in popularity because not only is it addictive and offers a high similar to marijuana, but it’s cheap–costing as little as $1 a joint. But it isn’t a new drug.

Spice consumption was popular first in the U.K. in 2004, and then later became prevalent in the U.S. in 2008. It can be extremely dangerous because it  is technically made of synthetic cannabinoids, or chemicals designed to mimic the effect of THC on the brain, and users can never be certain which chemicals they are actually getting in any given dose.

Smoking the drug can lead to slew of adverse side effects, which include: kidney failure, arrested heart rate, high blood pressure, loss of consciousness, violent behavior, nausea, vomiting, tremors, seizures, hallucinations, paranoia, agitation, anxiety, and even death, according to the state Department of Health.

New York, like many other cities, has banned the manufacture and sale of K2, but authorities have failed to crack a dent in the growing epidemic. Many convenience stores and bodegas have been caught selling the drug, but lackluster punishments have had a minimal effect on stopping the practice. Individual clerks caught selling face only a fine of up to $500 and 15 days in jail.

New York’s mass overdose Tuesday cast a necessary spotlight on K2–which has been linked to recent surges in hospitalizations and calls to poison control centers–but it’s clear NYC authorities are struggling to clean up the drug hotspot.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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A soda, a pack of gum, and some psychoactive drugs might all be available for checkout at typical gas stations across the globe. Head shops, gas stations, and online sites are legally selling drugs that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime call new psychoactive substances (NPS). Also known as “designer drugs,” “herbal highs,” or “legal high” drugs, NPS have come under increased international scrutiny as variations of these drugs continue to develop and as alarming research on the dangerous health effects of these substances emerges. In light of this, some places, such as Scotland, are beginning to shut down the sale of these substances.

Harminasion, a shop that sells legal high drugs in Aberdeen, Scotland, was forced to close its doors last Wednesday and will remain out of business for the next three months after Aberdeen police and city council members secured a closure order under the Antisocial Behaviour Act of 2004. The shop’s closing is believed to be a Scottish first in an effort to thwart the destructive consequences of NPS.

NPS are defined as “substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a preparation, that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a public health threat.” “New” does not necessarily mean that the drug is a new invention, but rather that the substances have recently become available. These drugs are synthetic, “legal” alternatives to internationally controlled drugs, intended to mimic the effects of illicit drugs. NPS emerge rapidly, making controls for these drugs extremely difficult. The increased use and emerging trade of NPS have created concerns that transnational organized criminal groups could exploit the market for these substances.

One class of new psychoactive substances is synthetic cannabinoids, such as “spice,” which was introduced to the United States around 2009, marketed as potpourri, and labeled “not for human consumption” to avoid FDA regulations. Spice or “K2” is an herbal material infused with dangerous chemicals that imitate the effects of THC, although it is much more potent and can be extremely harmful. Due to the ever-changing concentrations of chemicals used to make synthetic cannabinoids, data on human toxicity related to the use of these drugs remains limited. However, known health-related problems associated with their use include cardiovascular complications, psychological disorders, physiological dependence, hallucinations, paranoid behavior, agitation, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, and seizures. Data has also shown that an increasing number of suicides are also associated with use of synthetic cannabinoid products such as spice.

The Scottish decision to close the Aberdeen shop comes just weeks after the launch of an interactive online video that warns teens of the dangers and risks associated with legal high drugs. The video will be available to every secondary school throughout Scotland. Detective Inspector Michael Miller said of NPS use:

It’s become clear that officers are spending an increasing amount of time dealing with the diverse issues brought on by new psychoactive substances as the trend to take them escalates… It horrifies me that young people willingly take a substance without knowing what it contains or the effects it will have.

Scotland is not the only country in Europe feeling the daunting impact of NPS. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction reported an unprecedented increase in the number, type, and availability of new psychoactive substances in Europe over the past five years. The report claims that 101 new psychoactive substances were reported for the first time in 2014. What is truly shocking is the alarming number of seizures–46,730–of new psychoactive substances in 2013 alone. To combat the rapid increase of the drugs, several countries have amended their legislation to control the manufacture, trafficking, possession, sale and use of NPS. However, including a drug on a prohibited or scheduled list is often a lengthy process that requires health risk assessments based on scientific data, (data that is scarce for NPS) and can take several months to approve. For this reason, many governments have resorted to “emergency scheduling” to introduce temporary bans on NPS until the legislative process can be completed. Australia, China, Croatia, Bahrain, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States reported in a UNODC questionnaire on NPS to having used emergency scheduling to temporarily ban NPS. New psychoactive drug information has also begun to appear on national drug surveys due to the growing need to monitor and combat their use.

In the United States, NPS use is on the rise, mimicking the international trend. In 2011, the annual “Monitoring the Future” national survey asked 12^th graders about their drug use; the survey found that synthetic cannabinoids ranked second in annual prevalence only to natural cannabis. Notably, the states with the highest number of calls to U.S. Poison Centers involving synthetic cannabinoids in 2015 are states with harsher cannabis laws. Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Alaska are the only four U.S. states with legalized recreational cannabis, although they are in different stages of implementation. Those four states combined have had a total of 41 calls to poison centers this year, while Mississippi, a medical marijuana state with decriminalization laws, alone has had over 1,000 calls. In April, New York officials issued a health alert after more than 160 patients over a span of just nine days were admitted to hospitals across the state for adverse reactions to spice. In Mississippi, 97 cases of synthetic marijuana abuse were reported to the Mississippi Poison Control Center over an eight-day span in April. Although the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 banned the synthetic compounds found in NPS, there is obviously still an NPS abuse problem in the states, and we will probably see crackdowns similar to Europe on the rise.

In one German study on NPS, more than three out of five respondents indicated the legal availability of NPS as a major motivation for use. This result speaks to the importance of monitoring and scheduling new variations of NPS, shutting down head shops, gas stations, and websites that sell the drugs, and educating young people that the legality of the drugs does not imply their safety. Closing stores that sell these drugs will attack the infrastructure of NPS propagation and will deter novice NPS users from experimenting with these unsafe substances. Openly condemning the NPS market will also combat the current normalization of NPS use, which the open, “legal” sale of these drugs promotes. While policy reform is important, education is the most powerful tool for change. The U.S., and other locations, should take after Scotland in its efforts to inform young people about the detrimental impacts of new psychoactive substances.

Emily Dalgo

Emily Dalgo is a member of the American University Class of 2017 and a Law Street Media Fellow during the Summer of 2015. Contact Emily at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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