Synthetic cannabis
Synthetic cannabis (synthetic marijuana), or technically synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists are designer drugs that mimic the effects of cannabis sprayed onto a herbal base material. There are several psychoactive artificial cannabinoid families (e.g. AM-xxx, HU-xxx, JWH-xxx, CP xx) that are used as designer drugs sprayed on herbs and sold as natural highs under brand names like K2 and Spice, both of which are genericized trademarks used for any synthetic cannabis product. Synthetic cannabis is often termed spice product.
When synthetic cannabis blends first went on sale in the early 2000s, it was thought that they achieved an effect through a mixture of natural herbs. Laboratory analysis in 2008 showed that this was not the case, and that they in fact contain synthetic cannabinoids that act on the body in a similar way to cannabinoids naturally found in cannabis, such as THC. A large and complex variety of synthetic cannabinoids, most often cannabicyclohexanol, JWH-018, JWH-073, or HU-210, are used in an attempt to avoid the laws that make cannabis illegal, making synthetic cannabis a designer drug. It has been sold under various brand names, online, in head shops, and other stores.