Spice (drug)

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Spice Smoking mixture, 3.5g bag

Spice is the brand name of a legal (see Legality) smoking product. It is sold in packets of 400mg and eighth of an ounce (approx 3.5 grammes), or as pre-rolled joints, on the internet and in headshops. Spice is manufactered and sold to headshops and other resellers by "The Psyche Deli"[[1]], who are involved in the "legal" or "herbal high" scene.

There are currently two versions of Spice, Spice and Spice Gold. They both contain the same ingredients, but Spice Gold contains more potent and enriched herbs ^{[citation needed]} and is thus is more expensive and supposedly has a greater effect on the user.

It has a very noticeable sweet vanilla odor, which the manufacturers claim is part of its appeal.

1 Effects
2 Dosage
3 Legality
4 Ingredients
5 See Also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Effects

The effects of Spice are reported to be similar to those of Cannabis, even with some of the same side effects, such as slightly elevated pulse level and anxiety^[1].

The cause of these precise similarities is currently unknown, but may be the result of the Herbal formula, combining certain plants and herbs that have Cannabis-like effects and may synergize, potentiating the effects. An alternative explanation is essences and extracts of the herbs being added to the product, making both the effect and dosage stronger. Either way, The Psyche Deli to date have not chosen to disclose this.

Its proponents believe that Spice over-all is safe and a good alternative to the often criminalized Cannabis plant. Cannabis users, or previous cannabis users, may use Spice as a substitute that reproduces some of the psychological effects of Cannabis.

[edit] Dosage

The Spice substance

[edit] Needed Dose

To obtain the desired positive effects of Spice, the needed doses vary slightly from user to user, but depending on the users individual sensitivity, an average dose is between 0.4 and 0.8 grammes of Spice. The needed dose is accordingly smaller with Spice Gold, because it is more potent.

[edit] Overdose

An unpleasant, but not dangerous overdose (unless the user is allergic and hypersensitive), could be produced by smoking/using from 5 to 15 grammes at a time, so keep below that level if you want to avoid this - all though legal, you can get unpleasant depressant effects from the drug, which could lead to inducing sleep.

[edit] Lethal Overdose

A potentially lethal overdose would require smoking/ingesting from approximately thirty to several hundreds of grammes at a time. Thus an overdose would require the user to spend up to £100 GBP worth of Spice, which is both expensive and difficult, making it very unlikely to happen.

The lethal overdose being possible is due to some herbs containing plant alkaloids that are not healthy at extreme doses. An example is Leonurus Sibiricus which stimulates respiration, and may cause breathing difficulities or even respiratory paralysis in large doses^[2].

It is unfortunately, though, currently unknown exactly how high a such overdose would be, all though of the assesment as high and from thirty grammes or more. It would be hard to inflict accidentally, if the users has the least respect for the substance, because the desired/needed dose is much lower than that.

Please Note: These assesments are simply guesses based on the plant material in Spice. According to extract strengths and other circumstances, there might be irregularities, so it is recommended to not experiment with extreme doses until further information has been input. A thumb rule is a maximum dosage of 5-15 grammes (according to the users sensitivity to the drug) every day and preferably not at a time. This, though, is the maximum recommended dosage per day, and may give a following hangover the next days or so.

[edit] Legality

Pre-rolled Spice Joint/Cigarette

As far as known Spice is legal around the globe. Smoking regulation however do limit the legality of Spice because it is by far interpreted as a smoking product because it both comes in bags and pre-rolled joints. In many countries smoking products and smokable formats like cigarettes and joints are taxed and are illegal untaxed.

There has been some controversy regarding the legality of Spice on various internet forums, mainly due to a sales restriction from the manufacturer The Psyche Deli, which lead to some speculation about its ingredients; if there are unknown ingredients, are they legal or not?

Many online-rumors have arised from this, but The Psyche Deli have released a statement, where they reject these rumors and confirm that they are indeed false^[3]. The cause of the controversy and rumors are most likely due to the sales restrictions on the product, and the fact that hundreds of expensive, false marketed and non-working "herbal cannabis alternatives" are being sold online, which have given Cannabis alternatives a bad reputation^[4]^[5].

The Psyche Deli have forbidden their resellers to export and sell Spice to the following countries^[6]: USA, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Holland, Austria and Japan

The following is a quotation of The Psyche Deli, regarding the legality of Spice.

	There seems to be a general misconception that our country distribution restrictions have something to do with Spice being illegal in the certain countries we have listed. This is not the case, our restrictions are in fact an attempt to limit Spice from being distributed into the countries we feel are most likely to ban the product rapidly and thus cause a cascade effect that would shut down our primary markets prematurely.
	— The Psyche Deli^[7]

As another hint to the legality and possible cause of sales restrictions, there has been a case of confiscation in Norway, where Scullcap alkaloids are allowed on a prescription-only basis^{[citation needed]}. Practically all herbs which have any physiological effect need a doctors prescription to be imported into Norway and confiscation of imported herbs is very common. This includes Scullcap and thousands of other herbs.

[edit] Ingredients

Spice Flyer, showing ingredients

These are the ingredients The Psyche Deli claims Spice is made of, which is informed in the flyer seen on the right, which comes with an order of Spice, and on the backside of Spice bags where a few additional ingredients are listed (Rose, Honey, Vanilla, Red Clover, Marshmallow).