Spice Diamond and Other Spice Smoking Mixes with JWH-018 Banned in UK

It is expected that later this year the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, is to ban Spice Diamond, Spice Gold, Spice Arctic and other Spice smoking mixes along with a wide variety of other substances that are marketed as ‘cannabis substitutes’ or ‘cannabis emulators’ like JWH-018 in Spice Diamond and Spice Gold smoking mixes.

Ban of ‘Cannabis Emulators’ in Spice Mix

The hysteria has developed due to a rise in the consumption of legalized products that generally go untested before their release into the marketplace. Spice has been found to have a synthetically-made JWH-018 in Spice Diamond and Spice Gold for smoke that is sprayed onto the dried mix of plant extracts to emulate the appeal of cannabis.

Many varieties of legal smoking mixes: Smoke, Spike, Aroma and GOASpirit do not contain synthetically-made elements like JWH-018, but do contain plant extracts that are historically known to have psychoactive effects. The call to ban these substances comes after worries that the untested mixes may contain potentially harmful elements that are perilous to one’s health. It is expected that by the end of the year that these legal highs will be reclassified as Class B substances alongside cannabis.

Unsafe Spice Products Removed Too Late

If these products are deemed to be unsafe for human use and are untested, then why were they allowed to be place into the public marketplace for so many years unchallenged? If what the government says is right about these substances, then why have they been allowed to be taxed and placed on sale for public consumption?

Spice was originally made to emulate the desirable effects of cannabis, but now is likely to find itself in the same category as narcotics. Cannabis smokers say that legal smoking mixes like Spice, Jah Rush or Yucatan Fire mix for smoke are not nearly as potent and quite unlike the experience of smoking plants cannabis or marijuana. The government’s choice to continue the media war against cannabis while marginalizing the truly destructive narcotics such as cocaine and heroine seems to confuse priorities.

The increasing number of synthetically-made compounds yet to be classified as perilous substances worries many on both sides of the argument. The ban will likely result in new black market trade in these substances, making further opportunity and profit for illegal dealers, rather than research and investigation into what is truly harmful.