Since 1984, organic chemist John Huffman has led a team of researchers at Clemson University in studies of synthetic cannabinoids. With a two-million-dollar drug research grant from the federal government, Huffman and his team of scientists created over 460 synthetic cannabinoid compounds for use in tests on lab animals, with the ultimate aim of discovering their effects on brain receptors. Huffman's research uncovered potential new treatments for inflammation and pain, and some of his compounds have even been shown to shrink tumors in mice and induce regression of non-melanoma skin cancers, indicating potential uses in chemotherapy. Yet with all the benefits that his research may have for people suffering from severe pain and illnesses, Huffman's discoveries have received the most attention not for their valuable medical promise but because drug abusers have begun using them to get high.
Professor Huffman first became aware that his formulae for synthetic cannabinoids were being used to produce "designer pot" back in 2009, when to his surprise he began receiving calls asking why he had created such dangerous "street drugs." Drug manufacturers—mostly in China, but with domestic production by underground labs a growing problem—had taken advantage of the publication of Huffman's research in scientific journals to replicate his more easily-produced compounds, creating "stealth marijuana" with effects far more powerful and dangerous than any of those of the naturally-grown variety. Sold as "Cajun Spice," "White Widow," and "Voodoo Remix," these designer drugs are structured differently from THC—the active ingredient in marijuana—but have the same biological effects on the human body.
Huffman and his research team never intended the compounds for simple human consumption, both because of the yet-unknown potential side effects of the newly-minted substances and due to some effects that the team had already uncovered. In addition to affecting brain receptors for appetite, pain, nausea, and mood, Huffman found that synthetic cannabinoids could raise blood pressure, cause an elevated heart rate, and induce potentially quite dangerous and unpredictable psychological changes. As abuse of the compounds as street drugs skyrocketed in the late 2000's, calls to Poison Control Centers increased in kind—with over 4,500 nationwide being reported in the last two years—as would-be "stoners" experienced traumatic side effects such as seizures, hallucinations, psychosis, and convulsions.
Drug rehabilitation programs have received many patients who had become addicted to such chemicals.
The DEA has responded to these national signs of abuse of "stealth marijuana" by outlawing five of Huffman's 460 compounds. In August of 2011, authorities in Louisiana seized 7,200 grams of synthetic marijuana intended for sale at $25-30 per packet, for a total street value of $80,000-$130,000. While the DEA's ban is thus far merely a stop-gap measure to stem the tide of distribution and abuse, the Department of Health and Human Services has recommended that synthetic marijuana be permanently outlawed. Otherwise drug rehabs in New Orleans and other areas may have to cope with a dramatic rise in drug abuse. Such legislation would find one supporter in Professor Huffman, who says that, "You can't overdose on marijuana, but you might on these compounds. These things are dangerous, and marijuana isn't, really."
Louisiana drug rehab programs, for one, will be preparing in 2012 to help even more addicts of synthetic and designer drugs to turn a new leaf and get clean and sober.
