World News: Teen Dies After Taking One Inhalation Of Synthetic Marijuana

It is a well known that drugs are bad for you. While many disregard this and choose to do them at the risk of their own well-being, the fact remains that drugs can do a number on the body. Sometimes, it can be more of a tole than we really understand at the time. Seen as an alternative to the rule, marijuana has seemingly increased in popularity over the years. Many find it to be safe to use and nonaddictive. Due to this, several use it nationwide. There are some states that have legalized it all together. You can even go to a store as long as you have a marijuana card, and buy the weed of your choice.

Marijuana Cards are easier to get than any other medical prescription. Jokes have been made that you could walk in with a cough that some doctors will allow you to get a card. Marijuana has seemingly grown in popularity with the younger demographic, despite always having a presence there. High school to college crowds have always been the target demo for drugs and alcohol. While some continue this path when they leave the school environment, many do not… especially the last number of years.

This leads to many having access to drugs such as marijuana. Again, many find it safe compared to cigarettes and alcohol. Many will claim that it’s from the earth and shouldn’t cause problems. While this is highly inaccurate due to medical studies, the fact that it is no more harmful than tobacco and alcohol is very close to accurate. The problem is that with any drug, things can be overdone because people want to take things to an extreme. Unfortunately, one teen found that out the hard way and paid for it with his life.

Connor Eckhardt was like any other 19-year-old teen. He wanted to fit in, and he had friends he wanted to impress or be like. Due to this, he fell victim to the pressures of the day to use drugs and ended up trying marijuana. While usually the idea of trying marijuana does not equate to death to many, this particular version of marijuana and not like the norm. Connor tried what is known as synthetic marijuana.

In July, the teen decided to inhale synthetic marijuana. The difference between synthetic and normal marijuana is that synthetic is not real weed, but rather gives the effects of it through chemicals that are far more powerful.

Basically, Connor inhaled dried herbs sprayed with chemicals. Many enjoy the use of it as in blood drug tests, marijuana will not show up. There has been cases of it showing up in urine, however. So synthetic marijuana users aren’t off the hook too much here. The real draw is the strength.

The chemicals inside the drug known as Spice, K2, etc. are known as cannabimimetics. Usually a dangerous form of marijuana to buy, but people do because of the fact it is known as a “legal high.”

The effects of this brand of marijuana is that it is considered 1,000 times more powerful than normal weed. This is good for drug users wanting a high, but you never know how strong one hit will be. The hit Eckhardt took caused his brain to swell inside his skull. He then slipped into a coma and died shortly after. The doctors did all they could, but simply could not save the young man.

David Eckhard, father of Conner said:

“In a moment of peer pressure, he gave into that, thinking that was okay, it was somehow safe, and one hit later, he goes to sleep and never wakes up.”

Dr. Andrew Monte of the New England Journal claimed:

“These substances are not benign. People may not realize how dangerous these drugs can be — up to 1,000 times stronger binding to cannabis receptors when compared to traditional marijuana.”

The saddest part of all of this is that synthetic marijuana is legal in some states! Meanwhile, normal marijuana which is far less in effect, is not in the U.S. While I would not claim this means normal marijuana needs legalized, I will ask how the government and the FDA itself has not looked into the idiocy of this circumstance.

This is not the first case of issues with Synthetic Marijuana and may not be the last. A person died due to it, and a young person at that. He had his entire life to look forward to and now he is gone because of something one can get as easy as a pack of cigarettes. That is not only sad, but it makes one think about the contradictory stance the government has over health when they allow a more powerful version of a drug to be legal, but not the drug itself.

[IMG Credits: Google, Wikipedia]