“Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) have become increasingly popular in recent years. Often marketed to reflect their similar effects to cannabis, their use has been associated with a range of negative health effects. We sought to determine the relative risk of seeking emergency medical treatment (EMT) following use of SCs and natural cannabis.
The relative risk associated with the use of SCs was 30 (95% CI 17.5-51.2) times higher than that associated with cannabis. Significantly more symptoms (p=0.03) were reported by respondents seeking treatment for SCs than for cannabis.
CONCLUSIONS:
Whilst these findings must be treated with caution, SCs potentially pose a greater risk to users’ health than natural forms of cannabis. Regulation is unlikely to remove SCs from the market, so well-informed user-focused health promotion messages need to be crafted to discourage their use.”