Synthetic Marijuana
(an example of a synthetic )drug)
Waukesha Wisconsin - Police confiscated about $7,000 in synthetic marijuana from four retail outlets Monday after two teenagers showed up at Waukesha Memorial Hospital with adverse reactions to the product. The substance, a blend of herbs and chemicals that mimics the effects of marijuana when smoked, is marketed under brand names such as K2, Cloud 9, Genie and Spice and often marked as incense....
Synthetic drugs
Synthetic drugs are man-made (artificially) produced substances for the illicit market which are almost wholly manufactured from chemical compounds in illegal laboratories.
The illicit production of synthetic drugs is hardly a new problem in this country. For years, community leaders and law enforcement officials have understood the threat and expressed concern for the future based on the potential dangers of these drugs.
Synthetic drugs mimic marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy, and they're having powerful effects on users. 
A doctor from the Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis, said, "We're seeing patients coming into our emergency departments that are nauseous, vomiting, agitated, and paranoid as a result of synthetic drug use."
Last June, Michael's 18-year-old son David, killed himself after getting high on synthetic pot. Michael said of the drugs, "It takes away your sense of reality, and puts you in such a terrible place, that you'll do anything to get away from it."
The number of poisonings from synthetic pot is staggering. Between January and March of this year, 2,120 cases have been reported, compared to 155 cases in the same period in 2010.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Gary Boggs said people are getting substances with no clue what they're getting into.
The DEA has temporarily banned five substances used to make fake pot. But in a hearing on Capitol Hill, the father of the young man who took his own life is calling on a nationwide ban on synthetic substances.
He said, "When we think of something as being fake, we think of something as being inferior. I submit to you that fake marijuana and fake cocaine are anything but inferior in strength and anything but safe."
Legislation named after the young man who took his own life has been introduced in the Senate and would ban the chemicals used to make the fake pot.
Globally, there are significantly more users of synthetic drugs than there are users of heroin and cocaine combined. Unlike the markets for heroin and cocaine, the market for synthetic drugs is constantly evolving.
