HAMILTON’S PHARMACOPEIAA New Monthly Column by Hamilton Morris
SPICE GOLD IS WEED BUT NOT (BUT KINDA IS)
There used to be countless websites selling Spice Gold, but that’s changing fast. Now when I visit Spiceworld420.com, I’m greeted by sizzling metal guitar riffs. A supernova explodes in my face, reading:
Welcome to Spiceworld420.com!
Bringing you the worlds strongest...
Herbal Incense Blends!!
Spice up and Space out!!
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I can buy a cornucopia of herbal smoking blends: Space, Space Gold, Spicy, Spike, Smoke, and other so-called Spice-alikes. But there is one blend conspicuously missing: the website’s namesake, Spice Gold. Where the hell has all the Spice Gold gone?
About a year ago, reports began to surface about a mysterious herbal smoking blend called Spice. Spice was cheap, legal, and did not show up on any drug tests. It was made of all-natural ingredients and, most important, it got users really, really stoned. More and more people started trying it, and virtually everyone agreed it was like nothing else available, except weed—it was exactly like weed. An anonymous representative from Spice told me that last year Germany bought more than 7 million packages of Spice, the UK bought over 4 million, and Ireland bought 1.5 million. This was obviously only part of the global sales. Adding up the numbers, I calculated that about 800 million bowls of Spice had been consumed in 2008, almost enough to get everyone in New York City high 100 times over. Very impressive, considering nobody had any idea what it was they were smoking. I decided to buy some, but there was a veritable spice rack of choices: Spice Silver, Spice Gold, Spice Diamond, Spice Yucatan Fire, and Spice Arctic Synergy, all in prerolled joints or family-size pouches. I ordered a couple of packs of Spice Gold, as well as a SPICE UP AND SPACE OUT! t-shirt. When my package arrived, the Spice looked and tasted like weird fluffy drier lint. I stuffed some in a pipe and had a toke. Before I even exhaled, I was stoned. Impressive! The effects were dizzyingly psychedelic and color saturated. I looked in the mirror and my eyes were completely bloodshot. I was Spiced out of my gourd. A part of me lamented that Spice did not exist when I was in seventh grade trying to get high from snorting NoDoz. I put on my Spice shirt and lay down to watch Soylent Green. I was overcome by the eerie sensation that I might have just smoked a person. This slowly passed, but I still had no idea what was in Spice. I went to bed, slept dreamlessly, and woke up in the morning still Spiced. Around lunch, I was able to function normally again.
A quick peek at the back of the package gives a detailed list of the ingredients, which look like they’re taken from a Wiccan tea shop: mugwort, Baybean, Dwarf Skullcap, Blue Lotus, Indian Warrior, Siberian Motherwort, and some honey and vanilla for good measure. Perhaps these legal herbs can produce a high of sorts, but Spice does not produce a diaphanous, pillowy chamomile high—it produces a sloppy gravity-bong pizza-devouring high. In a blind smoke test, I’m certain ten out of ten stoners could not tell the difference. Spice was most definitely not herbal: The makers were lying to everyone, and it was just a matter of proving it.
Chemists around the globe began a race to crack the Spice code. They extracted Spice, looked at it under microscopes, ran it though gas chromatographs, and subjected it to every sort of chemical analysis available. But its secret ingredient remained shrouded in robes of mugwort. Jumping on the failure to isolate Spice’s secret ingredient, Spice denialists began trolling internet forums: “There is absolutely no evidence that Spice contains some mysterious chemical, it’s herbal and anyone telling you otherwise is just trying to scare you.” As with those who deny global warming or evolution, the Spice mystery was a microcosm of all human stupidity. Some people refused to question what was smoking right under their noses.
In late December 2008, scientists at a German lab isolated the active ingredient in Spice. It contained an unresearched synthetic cannabinoid called JWH-018, which stimulates the exact same parts of the brain as weed. Overnight, websites withdrew their Spice and headshops grabbed it from their shelves. JWH-018 has never been tested on humans, but drugs in the same family have been studied on mice. Luckily, it was found to be completely nontoxic. Just kidding! It gave the mice malignant lung tumors. Seriously. Once ingested, the chemical is rapidly metabolized into a new carcinogenic chemical, which preferentially targets respiratory tissue. How this translates to humans is unknown. So I called John W. Huffman, the chemist who invented JWH-018, for a chat. Vice: Hi, this is Hamilton Morris.
John W. Huffman: Oh, OK, nice to talk to you. I was just having a martini with my wife. Great! Have you been getting calls around the clock about Spice?
Mostly just emails. I did get one call from a representative of the US Air Force. What was that about?
Because these pilots were smoking the stuff, which is not a good idea when you’re flying a plane. Scary! It’s quite popular everywhere in the world now.
Well, yes. The thing is that JWH-018 is really easy to make. How easy?
I mean, it’s a two-step synthesis from readily available materials. I’ve had undergraduate students make it. But there is absolutely no toxicity data on this compound. Who knows what the long-term effects are? I mean, I have had people over the years ask me, “Can’t we try some of your compounds on ourselves?” And I say, “Oh, yeah, you’re welcome to. But we don’t know if they’re poisonous or not.” They lose interest very quickly after that, and I think people who are smoking this stuff should lose interest quickly as well. Perhaps you underestimate how much people like to get high. One published paper demonstrated that JWH-018 is metabolized into carcinogenic metabolites, which is very bad considering millions of people smoke JWH-018 each day.
Well, I might say, “Why don’t you stick to marijuana, because it’s safer.” Smoking a compound with unknown biological properties in humans is a stupid thing to do. Have you ever tried synthetic cannabinoids?
I believe that I am intelligent enough not to smoke or ingest one of our compounds for which no toxicity data is available. Also, as far as I’m concerned, alcohol is a very acceptable alternative to various other chemicals. Fair enough!
Days after my interview, Spice was further analyzed and discovered to contain a cocktail of synthetic cannabinoids in addition to JWH-018, including an Israeli compound called HU-210 that is highly illegal in the US. And so this Spicy tale comes to an end. Now I’m left wondering what the future holds—Huffman says that he has several other cannabinoids even more potent than JWH-018. The dose is so low it can’t even be seen by the naked eye. It’s really only a matter of time. By the way, a new “herbal” smoking blend has already been released by the makers of Spice. It’s called Genie, and if you choose to have a rub, perhaps your first wish should be for immunity to cancer.
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote:
needless to say, spice can still be found by those who desireth the mysterious delight... | |
| b4by f4ce, on Mar 10, 2009 wrote:
PS, maybe its the weed but the eye on the spice bag looks mad sinister!! and also the word "spice" gets funnier each time I say it to myself.. | | |
| b4by f4ce, on Mar 10, 2009 wrote:
I dont think anyone in canada even knows what that shit is. hmmm, i wonder why. But i have always wondered a)who would purchase and smoke said product and b)whether said products produced desired effect and if so why?
obviously the answers are a) those living in weed-poor and/or fascist nations and b) apparently so but due to some shifty chemistrizzzzzzle....
thank you sir, you have clarified a matter of great importance... | | Anonymous, on Mar 4, 2009 wrote:
Do you write your own Christmas & birthday cards too Morris?You’re not very good at going undercover are you.lol. | | Anonymous, on Mar 3, 2009 wrote:
god, i don’t think i’ve ever seen people argue so fiercely over fake weed. lighten up guys, smoke something and watch the simpsons or whatever it is you do while stoned. | | Anonymous, on Mar 3, 2009 wrote:
Hey hamhurricane ;) | | Anonymous, on Feb 28, 2009 wrote:
This article is deliberately misleading. | | Anonymous, on Feb 28, 2009 wrote:
No-one is arguing that JWH-018 is harmless.I think what people are saying is that it’s totally wrong to write an article that presents the dangers as fact when in reality no-one can possibly know at this stage,least of all this poor excuse for a journalist.I’ve read a few of his articles & they are all full off errors & infactual information. | | Anonymous, on Feb 27, 2009 wrote:
There is substantial evidence that JWH-018 COULD produce carcinogenic epoxides, and evidence that those epoxides WOULD target lung tissue. No one can be certain at this point as there has not been legitimate testing of JWH-018 or HU-210 or CPxxxxx on primates. Also there is the question of JWH-018 purity, a lot of the circulating JWH is tainted with unreacted precursors and unknown by-products of the synthesis, it’s the color of molasses for Christ sake! After the psychedeli lied to everyone and said it was herbal you think they did not use the cheap impure JWH-018? Ill bet my life they did, there are so many unknown factors that anyone attacking this article for acknowledging the danger of spice is out of their fucking mind.
I hope Hamilton is wrong because I have smoked quite a lot of spice (a year ago), but nothing he said is out of the question. I advise everyone to buy a bunch of these blends and put them on ice until more information is known.
| | Anonymous, on Feb 27, 2009 wrote:
"It has been tested on mice, but not on humans. i extrapolated the data from the location of tumors created by other epoxide metabolites of multicyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the tumors seem to preferentially effect lung tissue. Perhaps I should have been more clear about this, but its boring and complicated and I would not expect most people to care.
-Hamilton"
Yes,I think you certainly should have made that clear.It is your job to make things clear to the reader.The reader would also like to read an article that is informative,humorous or interesting & you failed on all counts.
You think that people who have smoked this who you’ve informed are going to die of lung cancer are going to find your explanation of this boring?You sir,are a total charlatan.
You like to make out you’re knowledgeable on the subject,surely you’d make a better scientist than a journalist?
If you know what this stuff is going to do in the long term you’re the only one who does.That would make you one of the best scientific minds alive at present.
But instead you’re happy to write totally flawed pieces of garbage that do more harm than good in getting to the bottom of this problem.
& in case anyone is wondering,I have never smoked Spice. | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
regardless of the epoxide theory. a lot of people are having frightening responses to spice, there have been hospitalizations from increased BP etc. we still do not know everything that is in this smoking mix, what about HU-210? and the CP-series cannabinoid? There is a whole fucking cocktail of chemicals in these bends, and we might not even know the half of it. This is NOT reefer madness, this is a warning that a drug which hundreds of thousands of people are using may be unsafe, if you think spice is perfectly fine then by all means smoke ten packs of it a day.
| | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
There was some interesting new data regarding toxicological testing of jwh-018 was published to the net. The credibility of these studies is questionable, but it does paint a very different picture than Mr. Hammilton has presented here.
See: www.synchronium.net/2009/02/21/jwh-018-toxicology/ | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
The formation of epoxides with jwh-018 have not been proven, quantified, nor ever tested for with human liver michrosomes. rat livers are known to function at much higher metabolic rates and often provide very different metabololic results than humans. It is not clear as to whether such epoxides form with human liver metabolism,
nor is it clear if such epoxides would cause cancer. There are many napthyl ring drugs with similar issues such as Duloxetine that have passed FDA approval.
It is true that the toxicological profile of jwh-018 is a great unknown territory and there may be unforeseen dangers. But it is completely false to say it causes malignant lung tumors in rats with no proof or evidence of such.
Making such a giant leap from real science and facts to an imagined extrapolation theory of "malignant lung tumors" speaks to a Reefer Madness mentality and is better
left to the mainstream media puppets and government propoganda. The satire presented here is no joke, and leaves readers very misinformed.
| | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
The only compound with a published study was jwh-015, and it was never administered to rats, nor did it give them malignant lung tumors as the author claims.
It was actually an in vitro study where they take fractionated rat liver michrosomes and incubate them with jwh-015 to determine the metabolic pathways of the drug. This study found end metabolites that suggest epoxide formation as an intermediate along
the pathway. Epoxides are reactive and can be problematic and damaging to cells if the concentration levels are beyond the bodies own ability to deactive them with glutathione. Cellular levels and concentration being the key here. Tobacco smoke contains epoxides and peroxides as well, yet people keep on smokin...
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| dingo dick, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
i think i speak for all the non-twattish people here when i say fuck those fuckers, hamilton. as a former and hopefully sometime future spice smoker, i thought this article/gonzo lit piece was the best thing i’ve seen written on the subject. ever since the magic jews article i’ve been pretty much in awe of everything like a dorky fanboy, so i apologize for geeking out, but yeah, good shit. glad to see you’re going to be a full-timer. as for you others, put that in your spice pipe and smoke it. | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
"Also,can someone tell me how an untested compound can be shown to target respiratory tissue?That’s quite a specific claim for a compound that hasn’t been tested"
it has been tested on mice, but not on humans. i extrapolated the data from the location of tumors created by other epoxide metabolites of multicyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the tumors seem to preferentially effect lung tissue. Perhaps I should have been more clear about this, but its boring and complicated and I would not expect most people to care.
-Hamilton | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
The financial times & telegraph both have ’real’ articles on Spice for anyone who wants to read a more balanced report.
Is Vice supposed to be a humorous butt-rag of a compilation whose readers will swallow anything?Because it comes across that way. | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
How much did the DEA pay you for writing this article?lol | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
The product has not been discontinued in most parts of the world.The EU are finding it hard to bring Spice under control & even if it is scheduled(which it probably will be) it takes a while for these laws to come into place.
Basically this article is full of flaws.
It is a fact that the compound that was shown to be carcinogenic in rats was jwh-015.
Also,can someone tell me how an untested compound can be shown to target respiratory tissue?That’s quite a specific claim for a compound that hasn’t been tested.Try again Mr Morris,this article is an absolute joke. | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
these comments are making me more confused than a gravity rip of this shit. what the fuck is the deal with this propaganda claim and who is mr. brown? where’s mr. pink, and who’s tipping for this damn coffee? | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
if you smoke enough of anything you’re bound to feel something. not saying the spice doesn’t work. i haven’t had it. the red rocks or devil’s breath or whatever doesn’t do shit though except give you a headache and make you lazy. | | Anonymous, on Feb 24, 2009 wrote:
there is an entire thread about how this article is propaganda its halarious, people think this is ANTI-SPICE propaganda, thats spice denialism at its best! | |
| Taylor, on Feb 24, 2009 wrote:
Propaganda? For what, exactly? A product that has been discontinued? Do tell. | | Anonymous, on Feb 24, 2009 wrote:
Mr. Brown??? Isn’t that the guy from Clue? | | Anonymous, on Feb 24, 2009 wrote:
I made a comment here on the 22nd February questioning the authenticity of some of the readers’ submitted comments.....& very strangely,it has been deleted.I rest my case..THIS IS PROPOGANDA.Come out Mr Brown,we know you’re in there! :) | | Anonymous, on Feb 23, 2009 wrote:
SPICE UP AND SPACE OUT | |
| Grant, on Feb 23, 2009 wrote:
why would you want to smoke anything that you don’t know the effects of? chances are it’s cool, but god forbid there is something harmful in there, smoking it is the worst possible thing you could do. besides the fact that smoking anything is bad by nature, all the chemicals will hit you almost immediately. not smart, my friends. | | Anonymous, on Feb 23, 2009 wrote:
@Below me:
Read more carefully. It says it changes into a new compound that IS carcinogenic.
"Once ingested, the chemical is rapidly metabolized into a new carcinogenic chemical, which preferentially targets respiratory tissue." | | Anonymous, on Feb 23, 2009 wrote:
this is bullshit there are test out that prove jwh-018 doesnt cause cancer | | Anonymous, on Feb 22, 2009 wrote:
"Fuck spice. The only thing I like about hash is the history and the skill spent producing good stuff."
well maybe you should drink earl grey tea instead, most people like this shit because it gets you HIGH. | | | Next 30 comments > |
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