Spice 101: What is it? Where Does it Come From? What are the Side Effects?

With so much being said in the media about Spice, Patch takes a look at some cold hard facts about the synthetic drug. Also, listen to a young adult's first-hand account with the deadly substance.

It’s been cited as the cause of 18-year-old Bloomfield Township resident Oliver Smith’s death and is alleged to have influenced 19-year-old Farmington Hills resident Tucker Cipriano’s fatal attack on his family. It’s called Spice, or K2, but what exactly is this increasingly infamous substance? The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines “Spice,” as “a wide variety of herbal mixtures that produce experiences similar to marijuana (cannabis) and that are marketed as ‘safe,’ legal alternatives to that drug.” However, NIDA, law enforcement officials and doctors in the Metro Detroit area say the substance is anything but “safe.”  Although Spice is commonly defined as “synthetic marijuana,” Dr. Sanford Vieder, director of Botsford Hospital's …

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