Sold in convenience stores, smoke shops and on the street, they are dangerous designer drugs which can cause severe psychotic reactions.
These drugs are synthetic cannabinoids, based on the chemicals found in marijuana. Two of the scientists responsible for inventing these drugs are John Huffman and Albert Weissman.
John W. Huffman is a professor of organic chemistry. Several forms of synthetic cannabinoids were created by Huffman in 1995 for experimental purposes in a lab of Clemson University.
It is believed that the manufacturers of "Spice" found and read Huffman's research to produce the synthetic cannabinoid and market it for commercial distribution.
Huffman however hasn’t stopped producing more versions of the drug. Between 1984 and 2010 Huffman and his team at Clemson, under a $2 million federal grant from the National Institute for Drug Abuse, created 460 synthetic cannabinoid compounds for tests on lab animals.
While discovering and publishing about his drug concoctions, Huffman knows what he is creating is pure poison. He said in an interview to WebMD: "It is like Russian roulette to use these drugs. We don't know a darn thing about them for real." He added that his lab had developed them for research purposes only, and that “their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects.”
Albert Weissman, is a retired Pfizer Inc. pharmaceutical company researcher who specialized in animal behavior and described himself as “among the wave of Skinnerian psychologists hired into the pharmaceutical industry during the late 1950s,” to research new psychiatric drugs. Among his claims to fame include research on the effect of electric shock treatment on rats and membership in the Pfizer research team which discovered the antidepressant Zoloft in 2006.
In 1982 he was the lead researcher who published a paper in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics on the structure and effect of a drug he called CP-47,497, another synthetic cannabinoid.
These and other Pfizer created synthetic cannabinoid’s have since been produced in drug labs around the world, and discovered in the blood of young people in the morgue or hospital emergency departments.
"One choice, it only takes one choice. One time, in life, one bad mistake that can affect your whole future." (A former user)
For more information on the origins of these drugs and and their effects, the Foundation for a Drug Free World sponsors a massive campaign to truly education people of all ages, but particular the young, of the dangers of drugs of abuse.
The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free. For more information go to www.drugfreeworld.org
And for the person with a drug problem, there are real solutions to addiction. Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program that utilizes the methods of L. Ron Hubbard, has a success rate of more than 75%. (www.narconon.org)
John W. Huffman is a professor of organic chemistry. Several forms of synthetic cannabinoids were created by Huffman in 1995 for experimental purposes in a lab of Clemson University.
It is believed that the manufacturers of "Spice" found and read Huffman's research to produce the synthetic cannabinoid and market it for commercial distribution.
Huffman however hasn’t stopped producing more versions of the drug. Between 1984 and 2010 Huffman and his team at Clemson, under a $2 million federal grant from the National Institute for Drug Abuse, created 460 synthetic cannabinoid compounds for tests on lab animals.
While discovering and publishing about his drug concoctions, Huffman knows what he is creating is pure poison. He said in an interview to WebMD: "It is like Russian roulette to use these drugs. We don't know a darn thing about them for real." He added that his lab had developed them for research purposes only, and that “their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects.”
Albert Weissman, is a retired Pfizer Inc. pharmaceutical company researcher who specialized in animal behavior and described himself as “among the wave of Skinnerian psychologists hired into the pharmaceutical industry during the late 1950s,” to research new psychiatric drugs. Among his claims to fame include research on the effect of electric shock treatment on rats and membership in the Pfizer research team which discovered the antidepressant Zoloft in 2006.
In 1982 he was the lead researcher who published a paper in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics on the structure and effect of a drug he called CP-47,497, another synthetic cannabinoid.
These and other Pfizer created synthetic cannabinoid’s have since been produced in drug labs around the world, and discovered in the blood of young people in the morgue or hospital emergency departments.
"One choice, it only takes one choice. One time, in life, one bad mistake that can affect your whole future." (A former user)
For more information on the origins of these drugs and and their effects, the Foundation for a Drug Free World sponsors a massive campaign to truly education people of all ages, but particular the young, of the dangers of drugs of abuse.
The Foundation for a Drug-Free World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free. For more information go to www.drugfreeworld.org
And for the person with a drug problem, there are real solutions to addiction. Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program that utilizes the methods of L. Ron Hubbard, has a success rate of more than 75%. (www.narconon.org)
