Over the past several years, the rates of marijuana legalization have spread exponentially throughout North America. This said some individuals do not believe that this is a change for the better because it still can pose risks for adolescents. One such risk that has presented itself recently is the creation of liquid marijuana. It’s a synthetic derivative of cannabis that can have extremely severe side effects that may result in hospitalization. Given this newfound dangerous substance, it is crucial that parents and their children are educated on this substance and the dangers it presents.
It is completely understandable that with the constant flow of new and emerging drugs entering today’s society at such a rapid pace, it can sometimes be difficult to keep informed. However, it is paramount that you do your best to be aware of any new drugs that may arise. This is because, without this knowledge, either you or your family can be at risk of taking a substance without understanding the negative consequences it may bring.
While this is true of any new drug, this kind of marijuana in some ways presents some unique challenges. Firstly, in today’s society, cannabis is more accepted than at any other point in the past. Due to this, when someone hears the name marijuana, they do not readily associate it with danger in the way they might be inclined to with other drugs.
This can create a clear problem, because you or someone you know may not even think twice about trying fluid marijuana because its name implies more safety than many other drugs. However, this is evidently not the case, as fluid marijuana poses some additional safety concerns not present in cannabis itself.
What is it?
Before we can discuss the potential danger and side effects, it is first important to speak about what this substance actually is, in order to gain a better understanding of the dangers it may carry with it.
This substance became more prevalent in the last few years as individuals have found unique ways to avoid detection by law enforcement. It can be often marketed as incense on other products you may find in your home. However, for those educated on the substance, they have full knowledge of these products and their actual use even if law enforcement of the stores selling them do not. This has allowed sellers of the drug to easily sell their product in stores and online with little risk of being caught.
This creates a problem because with it being sold in stores under the guise of something else, it makes this drug more easily accessible to anyone who is curious and would like to get their hands on it to try it for themselves.
As a parent, it may also become more difficult to spot this particular drug in the possession of your child, because the names and labels they are sold with do an excellent job at masking the true use for the product.
Furthermore, because fluid marijuana is both devoid of odour and colour, the substance is easily packaged in small bottles or cartridges that are sold to the public under the guise of incense such as “Cloud Nine”.
Dangers Of Vape Pens For Detection
This substance is most often utilized in vape pens, a form of electronic cigarettes that use cartridges to enhance the flavours of the vapour it produces. This is an issue because this makes the substance extremely difficult to tell if an individual is consuming fluid marijuana or standard cartridges.
Presently, you can find many teens on social media boasting about using their vape pens to consume drugs under the facade of being used for less dangerous pursuits. As such, due to this difficulty in detection, it is important that we are able to limit the ease in which this product is sold because once it is in the hands of your child it can be virtually undetectable.
Due to this difficulty in detection, it is important that we are able to limit the ease in which this product is sold because once it is in the hands of your child it can be virtually undetectable.
Greater The Concentration Means Greater The Risk
Similar to other forms of cannabis oils, it contains a higher degree of a cannabinoid known as THC or tetrahydrocannabinol. This is a psychoactive agent found in weed leaves at about a potency of 20%. However, in synthetic forms such as liquid marijuana, the THC potency can range anywhere from 50-90%. Along with largely unknown potency levels, there is also a risk of other chemicals being added which poses even more danger due to the uncertainty.
Even for those familiar with marijuana, having learned the amount in which they can consume safely this still presents risks. As discussed, with a 50-90% increase in THC, the effects you may feel may vary greatly from the lower dose of THC you may generally be accustomed to. In addition, because the actual amount of THC in the product is not regulated and thus not clearly stated, it is nearly impossible to tell where exactly the range of the product falls, making it much more difficult to discern how much to use.
This becomes an even greater risk for someone who has little to no experience with cannabis, as they could easily think that they require more of the product than they actually do. To the untrained eye, an extremely small amount of it may seem like nothing, however, due to the increased THC potency, it can have quite adverse effects on the user.
Final Remarks
In sum, with the risks such as the deregulation of the product, ease of purchase, its undetectability in many cases, as well as its extremely high THC potency that makes the drug much more psychoactive, this substance is clearly unsafe.
As such it is clear that much more attention to this harmful substance needs to be given in order to better learn how to educate ourselves as well as our children of the dangers of this kind of marijuana in order to steer clear of its wrath.
If you or a loved one is suffering from marijuana addiction, please feel free to call the Adolescent Treatment Centers at 866-889-3665.
