“Synthetic cannabinoids are, typically, full agonists at the cannabinoid CB1 receptor, and therefore considerably more potent than natural cannabis and may have correspondingly more serious psychological effects.

The purpose of this study was to synthesise the available research on the psychological consequences of synthetic cannabinoid use.

Non-controlled, cross-sectional studies generally showed that synthetic cannabinoid users had lower performance on cognitive tasks and showed elevated symptomatology (e.g. paranoia) compared to both natural cannabis and non-cannabis users.

Acute synthetic cannabinoid use can result in a range of psychological outcomes and, when non-intoxicated, synthetic cannabinoid users appear to differ from natural cannabis and non-users on various affective and cognitive domains.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30789300

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881119826592?journalCode=jopa