A lab created compound meant to mimic the effects of natural cannabis cannabinoids by binding to the same receptors, but bearing no structural relationship to the plant compounds themselves. The most well known examples are products marketed under names like K2 and Spice, these are not cannabis in any sense, they are instead plant material that resembles cannabis with a drug mixture sprayed onto it. Synthetic cannabinoids often bind to the CB1 receptors much more powerfully than natural cannabinoids and acting as full agonists rather than partial ones, which is why overdose events associated with these compounds tend to be far more severe than over use of natural cannabinoids. They are Schedule I controlled substances and can carry significant health risks that natural and semisynthetic cannabinoids typically do not.
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In the Wild — Example
K2 and Spice are synthetic cannabinoids with no relationship to the cannabis plant and a dangerous safety profile.
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