A recently published study in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, that examined the death of an 8 year old drug dog (Belgian Shepard Dog) determined the death to be related to a recent exposure of Synthetic cannabinoids.

The following is the Conclusion of the study:

“Conclusions: The described case presents the identification and quantitation of a new synthetic cannabinoid ADB-BUTINACA in post-mortem dog specimens. Although the cause of death was acute gastric dilatation, it cannot be ruled out that this process was the result of synthetic cannabinoid inhalation. Due to dogs' sensitivity to cannabinoids, ADB-BUTINACA poisoning can not be excluded either. The described case suggests that ADB-BUTINACA elicits serious adverse effects in dogs. The article indicates also the dangers to which police dogs coming into contact with extreme potent drugs may be exposed.”

This case above represents another a needless loss of life due to Cannabis Prohibition and its not the only drug dog to of died after exposure to synthetic cannabinoids. The cause of death of the dog in the study was listed as “acute gastric dilation”. While acute gastric dilation was listed as the cause of death researchers could not rule out that this process was initiated as a result of inhalation of synthetic cannabinoids. The researchers also references another study involving a 29 year old man who was a regular user of synthetic cannabinoids. The man experienced acute gastric dilation similar to the dog and also hepatic portal venous gas but luckily he survived.

Why the dog was less lucky is most likely to do with the higher concentration of cannabinoid receptors in the dogs brain compared to a human which the synthetic cannabinoids interact with to illicit their effects.

Another drug dog who died while searching for drugs was Jake.

Jake was only 5 years old when he died and his life was dedicated to helping us humans but unfortunately for Jake he paid the ultimate price as a pawn in the global drug war. Jake the Drug dog who loved and trusted his “handler” but unfortunately for Jake his handler allowed for Jake to be exposed to a green plant material that was found to contain synthetic cannabinoids during a drug search of a prison in Alabama. Sargent Jones, Jakes handler, said “After alerting on the substance, Jake lost his balance and became unresponsive,”. Sargent Jones immediately performed CPR on Jake while prison officials evacuated the area. Jake was then taken a veterinary hospital, and he was later transferred to a veterinary clinic at Auburn University.

Jakes condition seemed to improve initially but soon after complications developed with Jake developing Pneumonia and ultimately passing away 2 days later. Jake was laid to rest with full honors and received a 21 gun salute by a guard

Synthetic cannabinoids are primarily a problem due to cannabis prohibition. Most people who knowingly used these products were doing so as they were for a time a legal alternative to cannabis. Should people of had legal access to cannabis then very few if anyone at all would try synthetic cannabinoids.

Another conversation which needs to be had here is access to cannabis in prisons. Prisoners while incarcerated are allowed access to other drugs such as coffee and tobacco, should they not also be allowed access to cannabis?

I know Arfon Jones who had a long career as a police officer in Wales and also served as the police and crime commissioner(PCC) for North Wales from 2016-2021, would agree with me on this. While still serving as the PCC for North Wales Jones called for a trial of free cannabis for drug dependent prisoners.

He said “if justice authorities were serious about reducing harms and violence in prisons, they should be addressing the causes such as the cheap synthetic cannabinoid spice that is rife and can be deadly, as opposed to cannabis”. He also highlighted that many prisoners receive heroin substitutes such as methadone and buprenorphine, while others are commonly prescribed strong analgesics such as pregabalin and gabapentinoids – all of which are addictive and potentially dangerous drugs. Saying “If they’re on opioids, why can’t they be prescribed cannabis? At the end of the day, opioids are a damn sight more dangerous than cannabis. It would be an improvement on the illegal spice smuggled in by corrupt prison officers too.”

Arfon also called for drugs to be legalised so drugs can be taken out of the control of organised crime gangs and those addicted to drugs would be afforded more supports. When Arfon retired in 2021 he was hailed the “champion of the vulnerable and downtrodden” after campaigning for drug law reform and taking more action to tackle domestic abuse.

For dogs and humans safe and legal access to cannabis would help reduce the risks from synthetic cannabinoid exposure. As compounds in cannabis such as THC have transient effects on individuals and dogs meaning over time the effects will wear off. This is because THC is only a partial agonist of cannabinoid receptors while Synthetic cannabinoids are full agonists. This means that THC even in extremely high doses does not fully activate a cannabinoid receptor, unlike synthetic cannabinoids which at even low doses can illicit powerful and intense effects on the consumer.

Pets dying from THC/Cannabis exposure is a very rare event, in fact chocolate can be more harmful to your dog than cannabis with the Veterinary Poisons Information Service, showing that out of 1,000 dog chocolate toxicity cases it recorded on its database, five dogs died. A search of the Veterinary poisons information service for pets who died from THC ingestion could not be found. This is not to say a pet hasn’t died from a THC/Cannabis overdose but to date no reports of deaths can be found on this US database despite an increase in the number of pets now accidentally accessing cannabis stashes following cannabis legalisation in certain US states. In Canada reports are also on the increase since cannabis legalisation with vets there saying poisoning were mild and required only outpatient monitoring and supportive care. However a small number of deaths were reported but authors stated that underlying conditions could not be ruled out for cause of death of those pets.

If your dog does get into your stash just remember it is advised that you to contact your Vet especially if the stash was large or potent or if the dog is very small.

Below are some videos that found online of the effects of synthetic cannabinoids, 1 shows prisoners in a UK prison consuming synthetic cannabinoids(Spice) with the prisoner going into a seizure like state. Another also from a prison shows a prisoner on the floor, covered in his own vomit unable to get up or communicate effectively. Then the final video shows a lad recording his friend who is under the influence of Spice in what also looks like a seizure like state.

If you want to protect yourself from accidentally ingesting synthetic cannabinoids then be very careful where you source your cannabis products from as in Ireland we are seeing an increasing detection of these products by authorities. A number of recent drug seizures which found “Cannabis jellies” containing synthetic cannabinoids that are said to be linked to 3 teens being hospitalised in Tipperary.

The best way to ensure the quality of your Cannabis is to either grow your own or source it from a trusted grower of Cannabis. If you have sourced cannabis already and are unsure if its contaminated or not, then you should know that you can buy test kits for synthetic cannabinoids. These test kits however come with limitations as new synthetic cannabinoids are being detected regularly with 15 new compounds being detected for the first time in 2021 by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

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