Synthetic Cannabinoid Usage among College Students: The Example of K2 and Spice Page: 45
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The frequency with which students use K2 and Spice products appears to be relatively
rare, with few users reporting smoking more than one packet of these products more often than
once a week. However, respondents reported significantly higher frequencies of K2 and Spice
usage among their friends and acquaintances, which may be a function of the problems
associated with self-reporting; specifically, a respondent's need to provide socially desirable
responses. Perhaps even more telling, few students that reported using K2 and Spice products
within the past 12 months indicated that they have continued to use them, which suggests that
experimentation rather than a long-term substitute for marijuana is the primary reason for their
use. Additionally, although K2 and Spice products afford the user the ability to use such
substances legally in public, a majority of the users sampled reported smoking these mixtures
primarily in the evening, at their own residence or that of a friend or acquaintance.
Perhaps not surprisingly, results indicate that natural cannabis is overwhelmingly
preferred over K2 and Spice products. Those that indicated a preference for K2 and Spice
products over marijuana cited that the legality of K2 and Spice products was their primary
motivation for their preference, followed by a fear of drug testing. The negative side effects of
K2 and Spice products was the most reported reason for marijuana users preferring natural
cannabis over these products, trailed only by respondents that stated the superior effectiveness of
marijuana as their main determining factor. Consequently, while synthetic cannabinoids are
believed to be significantly more potent than their naturally occurring counterparts, such findings
lend credence to the claims of previous researchers detailing variability in the within products of
such as K2 and Spice (EMCDDA, 2009).
Contrary to previous research that suggests that the Internet is the most popular method
of obtaining products containing synthetic cannabinoids (EMCDDA, 2009), results of the current45
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Stephens, Jason L. Synthetic Cannabinoid Usage among College Students: The Example of K2 and Spice, thesis, August 2011; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc84283/m1/52/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .