Ruby and Tyler Talk Kronic — How about those synthetic cannabinoids?
Ruby’s Story
It was about 10 years ago when I first tried ‘synthetic cannabis’, when it was all the rage — legal (ish) and readily available at your local tobacconist for a very reasonable price. It was marketed as a safe, natural, legal high made from herbs and plant extracts. I had my reservations — a few friends had tried it with very mixed reviews. Some loved it, describing their experience as like being a kid again. Some said it made them fall straight asleep. Others hated it, saying it was the scariest, most intense and unenjoyable 15 minutes of their lives. But I was prepared to give it a go.
A mate and I bought a bag from a tobacconist. After smoking a cone mixed with a bit of tobacco, it didn’t seem that bad. After a minute or so I felt good — light headed, very giggly, hot flushes and a bit warm and fuzzy inside. We decided to go to a local bar and have a drink. It was about a 10 minute walk away. No sooner had we entered the bar than it hit me like a tonne of bricks. My stomach started churning, my vision blurred and everything went white. The need to vomit came hard and fast.
I barely made it out the door before spraying the pavement, parked cars and whatever else got in my way. I should also add that this happened on a busy street in broad daylight, so you can imagine my horror and embarrassment from the looks I was getting. I managed to crawl to the gutter where I sat between 2 parked cars clutching at my knees in a tight ball, shaking profusely and hyperventilating. I don’t know how long I sat there for, but it felt like an eternity. The entire time I was overcome with an impending sense of doom — like something terrible was about to happen.
Then the effects began to wear off. My vision returned and I was no longer convinced the world was about to end. My breathing started to return to normal. My friend sat by me and gave me a bottle of water and some lollies. We went back to his place for a debrief and some trauma counselling! Even an hour after consuming it I still felt quite anxious, agitated and had chest pains.
I’ve since drawn the conclusion that nothing beats the real thing. Especially in the context of natural weed vs synthetics.
Tyler’s Story
Even though ‘synthetic cannabis’ is no longer legal and easily available, it is still around and generally referred to as ‘kronic’. I can only speak to my own experience but I loved the stuff once I learned how to use it.
The big thing to remember is that it’s not pot and it’s probably dangerous or misleading to market it as an alternative to pot. I feel that the name ‘synthetic cannabis’ is totally misleading. This is a very powerful drug in its own right. I only ever had a problem with it when I treated it like pot and smoked it straight … I almost fell over in a supermarket because it is very strong!
Too much is easy to do. One way to cut it back could be cutting with spin (tobacco, sage, lavender, rosemary, tea – whatever) at about 1 x chronic to 2 x spin. I built up a tolerance very quickly as I have with most drugs, which is probably normal. One mistake I made once was to forget exactly how strong it was in a social situation, especially with people who don’t usually smoke it. I passed it around and everyone got too stoned to be very social!
In situations like that, it’s good to know that it doesn’t last for long. It’s one of those things like K or coke. Takes you very high, very quickly and then you start to come down. It is certainly a lot more intense than pot — dreamy and trippy — but doesn’t last for long.
My biggest message is that it could be a very scary drug if not used properly. My advice is to respect it as a drug that can be very powerful. Remember: a little goes a long way.
What is Kronic?
Synthetic cannabinoid products generally are a non-psychoactive herb sprayed with lab-produced chemicals and have been sold under hundreds of brand names. In Australia the most popular names are ‘Kronic’, ‘K2’, ‘Kaos’ and ‘Spice’. ‘Kronic’ is not to be confused with ‘chronic’ which usually refers to very strong hydro-grown cannabis.
The term ‘synthetic cannabis’ is misleading. While, like THC (the main psychoactive component in cannabis), this drug acts on various cannabinoid receptors in the brain, it is not a natural product and is sprayed on plant matter. It is man-made with different chemicals and the effect is very different.
These drugs initially made an appearance as ‘legal highs’ although in most jurisdictions they did not remain legal for long. The growth in the number of different synthetic cannabinoids has in part been driven by manufacturers producing new chemicals in response to law-makers banning existing ones. In NSW, a 2013 law banned whole classes of chemicals, thereby criminalising drugs before they have even been invented, which means any form of chronic can be assumed to be illegal in NSW.
While some people have a preference for kronic, it is often used as a substitute for marijuana because it is cheaper and drug tests don’t detect it. But these substances are different drugs than plant-based cannabis and have more risks.
It’s important to reduce the risks involved in people using ‘kronic’ as if it were cannabis rather than treating it as a different drug. Criminalisation has contributed to this and has been counterproductive to harm reduction. Accurate labelling and product consistency would contribute greatly to harm reduction. Other harm reduction measures would include comprehensive drug education about emerging substances.