Spice K2 - synthetic pot - any experience with this?

For a few months my son had this horrible smell around him. It was kind of like pot but a very odd pot smell. From doing some reading I am wondering if it may be Spice K2. Have any of you had exposure to this? When I asked him what the smell was he said it was cologne.

1 Like

Hi DianeR… I just typed up this whole long response to you and only the last few words showed up so I deleted it… and started over with this post…Anyway maybe there is a limit to how much i can write… in any event i will shorten… I work in my county’s Probation Department and we have to go to many trainings… one being on the drug SPice… My son was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and was psychotic and delusional for 3 years or so…was hospitalized and released on injectable drug Invega… refused after about 15 months at which point I wondered when the next shoe would drop and we would end up in another “crisis”… I was always allowed by him to attend his sessions with his psychiatrist… we tried to persuade him to continue but he refused at 30 years old… Well, that was June 2016 and here we are in February 2018 and he is fine… no meds… working and making money… gave up cigarettes… I know he still smokes marijuana but I and his therapist believe he must have been using spice k2… Just a thought I had to share with you… i can’t explain it … but that’s why I never come on this site but I get the emails and just had to respond to your question… i believe that this garbage Spice is a HUGE contributor to this problem and that maybe just maybe some have of our kids are not truly schizophrenic… Hugs to you and your son!

2 Likes

@ant930 Thank you so much for replying! I am just starting to figure this out. Now your son is fine - no meds?? Do you think he stopped with the Spice and that hallucinations went away? He must have done this all on his own? I am reading withdrawals can be horrendous. I take your intuition as likely accurate.

1 Like

I was resigned to believing that i would be my son’s caregiver forever and in that time he was delusional and paranoid I felt hopeless and helpless…Working in probation department where we deal with mental illness in regards to criminal activity… i knew a lot and so when my other son (older brother to this son) called to tell me of his brothers odd … paranoid behavior after my younger son visited, i knew right away that he was exhibiting schizophrenia… as so many young people smoke marijuana and it is actually being “legalized” in some places… (worst thing ever and I cannot believe it)…I cried for the son I knew and didn’t want to believe it… THEN I had to attend a training about SPice… Bath Salts… and other synthetic drugs… they cannot be detected or tested for as the dealers and manufactures are continually changing the chemical components to make them non-illegal… in other words if they do not TEST for marijuana… the user or dealer cannot be arrested… Please look into this as I do Absolutely think as do his psychiatrist believe that he must have been using this drug… there is no other explanation for why my son is back… totally fine… I though for sure that Schizophrenia would have returned at his brothers 10/2016 wedding in which he was the best man … or when we went on a family cruise… he has been working steady… 2 jobs in summer… and I have my boy back… I wish this would be true with everyone on here … I believe that whether its marijauna or synthetic marijuana (spice)… anyone sensitive to it can become delusional and psychotic… I pray that it NEVER gets legalized! I don’t believe it is as “harmless” as people believe…

5 Likes

@ant930 Thank you, again for this! I am absolutely going to explore this. I know I found some in his room and I thought - this is like pot but not really pot and I had no idea what it was. My son, however, had some delusional thoughts before his full blown elisode. i.e. thought I had been a bad parent, forced him to play sports. But not all of this paranoia and isolated - he worked just fine for years. I will have to withhold all money I give him as I thought he needed it for food and here he is (perhaps) ordering this Spice on the internet. I am so glad to hear your story about getting your son back. I hope that I will as well. Thank you again - btw - did you ever smell it? One person I read said that it smelled like “a very faint smell of regular marijuana, mixed with a very strange and strong chemical smell”. Which is kind of like the smell we are smelling on my son.

1 Like

The smell was strange and i didn’t really know much about Spice at the beginning… I was devastated by his paranoia and delusions and not until I attended the training about the “designer drugs”. did I begin to think that there may be a connection… As we know… Even Marijuana is known to produce paranoia… maybe more so in some than others,I thinks some people are more "sensitive’ to it… Spice can in some cases cause extreme psychosis that people never recover from and if admitted to a hospital … the hospital personnel do not even know what drug they are dealing with… as I said… dealers are continually manipulating the chemical components to avoid arrest i would like to think and hope for that this is what you are dealing with and can overcome… with your son… the effects… and symptoms…i thank god everyday…but am still very attuned to his behavior…which … I have to say… so far so good

I don’t come on here as I don’t feel I belong anymore . but if I can tell someone my son’s story and they explore the possibility that maybe it was a drug induced psychosis for their loved one… then that would be so awesome…I ABSOLUTELY 100% believe that Spice had a 100% role in my sons 3 years of psychosis, delusional hell…

1 Like

@ant930 - Actually I read about K2 here in this forum. I was just looking around and someone said that after the son did Spice K2 it was downhill and I was like what is that? I’ve smoked pot and understand the paranoia and I can tell you the new stuff is way worse than when we were growing up. We are in CO where it’s legal and now I won’t go near it. I am so thankful that you still check these emails. I can only hope that someday I will just be checking back here periodically. One of my son’s baseball pears, a few years older, ended up dealing and doing heroin, went to jail and is now a drug counselor so I may need to go to him for assistance.

I have a nurse friend who has told me stories of people coming in for hallucinations and saying they’re only smoking pot (perhaps it was this fake pot).

Thank you for your story! Much appreciated!

3 Likes

Best Wishes in your son’s recovery… If you need anything … support… questions … feel free to reach out…Please keep me informed as i truly believe he will be well… prayers… peace and hugs… Debbie

2 Likes

Spice and other synthetic drugs are poison. I would much rather my loved one use real marijuana than that. At least real pot has some proven medicinal benefits. The K2? Who knows what’s in it. I would strongly discourage its use for anyone, especially someone with sz.

5 Likes

@Jan - Yes I’m just now learning about this stupid substitute for pot. Jeez - What next?

1 Like

There is fake LSD that makes people’s brains bleed…

1 Like

@ant930 - I am curious to know what type of symptoms your son had. Did he have delusions (like thinking he was raised poorly or other thoughts), that he was being followed, the CIA was listening through cell phones, hallucinations and/or paranoia? I thought I would send you a private email but I think it’s important to keep this chain so others may benefit.

2 Likes

My son thought the house was bugged… started looking up neighbors names (That I didn’t even know) and accusing them of spying etc…he told stories that he heard people talking about him… one being his older brother (who he is very close too)…and his cousin… when that older son called me very angry one morning as I got into work to tell me what his brother accused him of saying the evening before I immediately thought “Schizophrenia”…When I had a botched colonoscopy(I am fine)… he accused the doctor did it deliberately and that it was planned…I began sleeping with my bedroom door locked… it was HELL and was NoT my son…He used to do overnight security… All ALONE with his thoughts… and probably smoking some crap… the last straw was when one of his older brothers friends was renting a cottage from someone a few doors down… I was told by this boy that they suspected my son… who had been verbally abusive to them… trespassed on their property… THAT is when I called our local Crisis team… I did NOT want it to get to the point of law enforcement getting involved… after all … working where I do (probation dept) I knew what that would entail…I too think it is good to keep this chain going but if ever you want to… absolutely send a private email…

1 Like

These drugs have ruined my family. My grandson is paranoid schizophrenic and he got so much worse when he smokes this crap. I believe we will never get my grandson back. His mind is so messed up and he don’t even recognize us anymore. My daughter is now on probation for three years and she does not do drugs but her friends told her this was good and will help her with her depression. A friend of my grandson died from this stuff and it has ruined so many life’s. So please try your hardest to keep that away from your family.

3 Likes

Did the crisis team come to your home or did you have to go to them? Here in CO, ours is a walk-in or a phone call. What was going on when you got your son to go to the hospital? Do you know how your son was able to stop the Spice? Thank you for your help with this.

1 Like

Sorry to hear about your grandkids. I’m afraid it’s entered into my life. But I will be fighting to get it out. I think I’m actually going to have to purchase some to see what it smells like.

1 Like

Our crisis team came to our home…spoke to him…I remained in the other room but could hear his bizarre statements… truthfully …I always thought that we were not having a “crisis”… because there was no “chaos”…or “incident”…after they left…they called me to say they were calling the police to bring him to hospital for eval…they took there time to diagnose then sent him to psych hospital for 10 days

1 Like

@ant930 - Are you in the States? In your opinion do you think the meds helped him or do you think the psychosis would have stopped when he stopped the Spice? This will be a whole new ballpark for me but there is a lot of help out there so with that and your story I am hopeful.

1 Like

I am on Long Island…New York…my son stopped smoking when he went on psych meds…He still smokes marijuana…but he is not smoking day in day out and I don’t believe it’s what he had been using… smells like marijuana…he is doing well…I wish he would NOT do it and I will not allow him to work overnight security

3 Likes