“Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are a class of new psychoactive substances that have been rapidly evolving around the world throughout recent years. Many different synthetic cannabinoid analogues are on the consumer market and sold under misleading names, like “spice” or “incense.”

A limited number of studies have reported serious health effects associated with SC use. In this study, we compared clinical and subclinical psychopathological symptoms associated with SC use and natural cannabis (NC) use.

SC users scored higher than NC users on all used psychometric measures, indicating a higher likelihood of drug abuse, sleep problems, (hypo)manic symptoms, and the nine dimensions comprising the BSI, somatization, obsessive-compulsive behavior, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism.

This study shows that SC use is associated with increased mental health symptomatology compared to NC use.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30968175

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-019-05238-8

“While cannabis use usually induces psychotropic effects such as euphoria, relaxation, and a general pleasant feeling, the use of Synthetic Cannabinoid drugs is associated with more undesired effects including; agitation, irritability, confusion, hallucinations, delusions, psychosis, and death.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5999798/
“These side effects (including psychosis, tachyarrhythmia, and seizures) are not typically seen with marijuana (Cannabis sativa) use.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3726077/