Mumbai: Why new synthetic drug 'Spice' popular among young city girls

The synthetic drug is most commonly sold as a coating on plant leaves meant to be smoked Representation picGetty ImagesSayonara marijuana Mumbais youths have turned to a new drug to spice up their lives Sold as a new type of weed the drug is far from natural and has cops and doctors worried about its dangerous side effects Meanwhile girls in schools and colleges are flocking to buy it because of a unique feature it doesnt show up in drug testsAlthough it looks like natural weed Spice is far more dangerous Representation picGetty ImagesYoung girls in particular form the biggest market for the narcotic called Spice or K2 or synthetic weed Peddlers sell it to them with the promise that it will not be detected in drug tests allowing users to remain above suspicionIt goes unseenThe drugs power to remain invisible has allowed it to reach far and wide without alerting doctors or cops That is until the daughter of a senior state bureaucrat was caught smoking up in the bathroom The 17yearolds parents hauled her to Masina hospital for treatment but doctors were shocked when they found no evidence of cannabis in her urine test Weed or cannabis can be traced in urine tests for at least 2025 days after use but the teen was confident her samples would come up negative so she even encouraged the doctors to conduct a testTwo other girls aged 14 and 16 years from the northern suburbs of city reported to citybased psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty with similar symptoms The girls say they were told this substance was cannabis but the test results were negative Preliminary research on this suspicious substance indicates it to be Spice which is popular in Australia as Chronicle Excessive consumption can be dangerous and parents should be vigilant in looking for the symptoms said Dr Shetty saidSince the last three months doctors have observed several such cases pouring into psychiatry clinics and drug rehab centres with patients showing similar symptoms to cannabis addiction but without any trace of it in their body Currently there is no medical kit in the nation that can detect the drugNot natural or safePeddlers tell their young customers that Spice is a safe herbal drug but in fact there is nothing natural or safe about it All its features are similar to weed but its side effects are more hazardous Longterm use can result in three serious side effects ndash epilepsy psychosis and toxicity said Dr Priyanka Mahajan from Masina hospitalSpice was first sold in the UK in 2004 At first people believed it was a mixture of harmless herbs so it was legally sold all over the world especially via the Internet It was packaged in small colourful sachets and generally marketed as an herbal smoking tobacco substitute or as incense It also looks like tobaccoIt gives a high that is similar to weed but unlike the natural stuff Spice gets stuck to the brains receptors permanently Excessive consumption of the drug can turn a user into a living zombie doctors have warned Now in most countries around the world including the United States synthetic weed is illegalNot illegal hereSince it cannot be detected and is a new drug girls are also lured into trying the drug with the assurance that it doesnt fall under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act Dr Sagar Mundada psychiatrist at KEM HospitalKumar Sanjay Jha zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB confirmed that not a single case of synthetic weed had been reported to them No one has approached Mumbai Polices AntiNarcotics Cell ANC over this matter either We have learnt through our sources that a new drug called Spice or synthetic weed is gaining popularity among drug addicts but as of now no case has been registered We have pressed our informants for some concrete information on this drug after which we will take strict action said Shivdeep Lande deputy commissioner of police ANC