P-62 - Cannabis use and Internet: the Case of “spice” Products

Abstract

In the past few years various smoking herbal mixture containing synthetic cannabinoids have increasingly been used as recreational drugs. The most iconic one of these products is called “Spice” and it is commonly sold as an incense blend that releases an exotic aroma and it is not for human consumption. This blend has become popular especially among adolescent users because when smoked produces psychoactive effects similar to cannabis, it is undetectable by drugs screening and can be easily bought online.

The study focused on quantifying the existence of websites related to synthetic cannabinoid products and aimed at dividing their positions towards drug use in tree main categories: Anti Drugs, Pro Drugs and Harm Reduction Approach.

A web mapping developed through the most well-known search engines as Google™ and Yahoo™ has underlined the existence of 61 main websites that shared information about the “Spice”: 43 (70.5%) were Pro Drugs, 13 (21.3%) were Anti Drugs and 5 (8.2%) were Harm Reduction Approach. Although the internet provides a wide range of information about the side effect of the “Spice” and many Countries have banned it, there is still an high number of Pro Drugs websites that actively promotes to consume and purchase it.