Gorilla marijuana / gorilla 'tobaco' is one of the terms for synthetic marijuana sold in Indonesia. The news had shown a lot of people got caught due to this. What is gorilla marijuana? What makes it more 'special' than regular marijuana? Well, the name of 'gorilla marijuana' was given because the effect of this synthetic marijuana was like 'being squashed by gorilla'. People who do drug abuse often said that the drug is a lot better than regular marijuana, the effect is more severe. Because some articles mentioned that marijuana is actually less harmless than some substances, it msut be safe, no?
Well first of all, the therapeutic use of synthetic cannabinoid is inconclusive. We all have heard the medical use of marijuana. But first, I want to introduce the two receptor of cannabinoids in our body. Receptors are parts of our cells that accept chemical (such as active substance from drugs) and the binding between the two will lead to chain reactions that create the drug effect. There are two cannabinoid receptors in our body :
Well first of all, the therapeutic use of synthetic cannabinoid is inconclusive. We all have heard the medical use of marijuana. But first, I want to introduce the two receptor of cannabinoids in our body. Receptors are parts of our cells that accept chemical (such as active substance from drugs) and the binding between the two will lead to chain reactions that create the drug effect. There are two cannabinoid receptors in our body :
The research goal is to find synthetic marijuana without the psychoactive effect, yet work well in modulating the immune cells (that binds more to CB2 receptors). Some research also seek for the therapeutic use of synthetic cannabinoid for nervous system disturbance such as Alzheimers or Dementia. The results, however, is still inconclusive and in need of further research.
The synthetic cannabinoid manufactured outside medical purposes, however ... are more potent and efficacious cannabinoid receptor agonists than THC plus they have additional ingredients such as preservatives, additives, fatty acids, amides, esters, benzodiazepines, and O-desmethyltramadol- an active metabolite of the opioid medication tramadol. The mixtures were used to mask the result of the drug examinations.
Now, synthetic cannabinoid is different from the regular one because the effect is a lot more potent. Synthetic cannabinoid is not derived from cannabis, they're the full agonists at cannabinoid receptors with biologically active metabolites. Thus, the effect. Adverse effects including respiratory difficulties, hypertension, tachycardia (raise of heart rate), chest pain, muscle twitches, acute renal failure, anxiety, agitation, psychosis, suicidal ideation, and cognitive impairment. To put in summary : it is definitely not a recreational drug.
In Indonesia, there was a report on a pilot of commercial airplane, who used this 'Gorilla tobacco' . Before the flight, the pilot was seen staggering during his walk accross the x ray. Passengers started to get panic when they heard he's slurring words from the cockpit. The worried, scared and angry passengers approached the cockpit.
How bad was it? Well ... :
During the x ray examination:
On the cockpit :
The translation of the dialogue :
People are trying to make him cancel the flight, but he's saying "No! I don't wanna get off this plane. You know me right? I'm just tired. I'm just woken up. I'm okay. Let's go!"
He's obviously suspended after the incident. There are also a lot of case reports regarding the adverse effect of synthetic cannabinoid abuse. They are not 'just getting high' and could easily being laughed off *until someone gets hurt, that is. You can read the case report here, but some of the cases are :
1. 13 years old girl who was found intermittently responsive and combative at her home after using synthetic marijuana called 'K2'. Her heart rate increases rapidly and after sedated at the hospital, her respiratory rate decreasing. She's finally being put in intubation to help her breathing.
2. 13 years old boy was found unresponsive in a park. At the hospital he required significant amounts of sedatives due to periods of agitation and combativeness. During his hospitalization the patient developed aspiration pneumonia, but could finally discharged.
3. 40 years old woman admitted into the hospital with a seizure after using synthetic marijuana. The EKG (heart recording) showed increasing heart rate. The electroenchepalogram (brain wave recording), also showed unremarkable abnormality. She was put into sedated state and using intubation as well.
4. 20 years old man admitted into the hospital waith hyperthermic (rise of body temperature), increasing heart rate and unconscoious with decorticate position. Laboratory analysis demonstrated significant rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure. Later, the clinical examination was consistent with anoxic brain injury. A brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan confirmed these findings. Care was eventually withdrawn due to the grim prognosis, and the patient died on HD seven.
There are still some case reports regarding the adverse use of synthetic cannabinoids. So please, do be careful in using new 'exciting' substance. Putting yourself in serious danger in order to be 'edgy' is not worth it. Many people survive drug abuse effects, but it's always like Russian roulette. You might survive, but next time you might not be so lucky. Also, people who 'make' these kind of drugs are getting more and more experimental, mixing various substances here and there in order to increasing the effect / masking the drug tests result / etc. when the adverse effect started to get too bad, the 'mixtures' might clash with the life-saving efforts in the hospital.
Reference / Further Reading :
1. Cohen K and Weinstein AM (2018) Synthetic and Non-synthetic Cannabinoid Drugs and Their Adverse Effects-A Review From Public Health Prospective. Front. Public Health 6:162. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00162.
2. Katz et al (2016) Case Series of Synthetic Cannabinoid Intoxication from One Toxicology Center. West J Emerg Med 17 : 3. doi : 10.5811/westjem.2016.2.29519
3. Mills et al (2015). Synthetic Cannabinoids. American Journal of Medical Sciences 350 : 1. doi : https://doi.org/10.1097/MAJ.000000000000046
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