Remember back in September when we wrote about just what makes bath salts so incredibly dangerous? 

If so, you'll recall that it is wildly unregulated. Bath salts are considered "designer drugs," which is a sly way of saying that any ordinary Joe with chemicals and a need for cash can make it.

Well, much of this remains true about synthetic marijuana. Unlike bath salts, there is a clear end goal with synthetic marijuana. Since the psychoactive properties of marijuana come from the THC, that's what designers try to produce.

Except it doesn't work that easily. Instead of directly copying the chemical structure of THC, synthetic marijuana designers mimic the compound. They do this by combining incredibly dangerous chemicals that cause a high "similar" to that of marijuana. 

Many people who smoke these products will say this isn't true. The drugs are advertised as genuine marijuana synthetics, and that they consist of a variety of traditionally used medicinal herbs that cause the same effect as THC.

That's not true. That's not how it works, and many laboratories around the world have found that many of the herbs listed on the packaging are not in the actual product.

Just like bath salts, synthetic marijuana is often sold as "herbal incense," and is packaged in small, foil pouches. The most common brands are 'Spice' and 'K2.' Visit this link to view more of the names to watch out for!