Abstract
Comparative study between acute toxicity of natural cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids
Highlights
Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are psychoactive substances that are gaining popularity for being available and indetectable by standardized drug tests
Most patients of the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCs) group (95%) were due to inhalation by smoking while (96.2%) of the cannabis group were due to oral ingestion
While natural cannabis continues to be the most widely used illegal psychoactive substance worldwide, synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCs) continue to rise in many regions as one of new psychoactive substances (NPS) identified by UNODC (World Drug Report, 2019)
Summary
Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are psychoactive substances that are gaining popularity for being available and indetectable by standardized drug tests. Methods: This study was an observational retrospective cohort study including patients admitted to Poisoning Control Centre Ain Shams University Hospitals with acute toxicity of cannabis or synthetic cannabinoids over 5 years period from January 2015 to December 2019. Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are cannabinoid receptor agonists with variable structural designs and potencies. They were originally synthesized as research tools or potential therapeutic agents (Øiestad et al, 2017). The use of diverse smokable herbal products (―Spice‖ products) containing synthetic cannabinoids has emerged as a new trend in substance abuse. As all new psychoactive substances (NPS), they induce psychoactive effects, readily available, cheap together with avoiding regulatory oversight (Zanda & Fattore, 2018)
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