What have you been smoking?

Everything government touches turns to crap

Welcome to Part 4 of the series. This one’s a little different. Different because this time you know what you’ve been smoking *before* you smoke it! And that’s how it should be.

The list below is sourced from the Interim Product Approvals page on the Ministry of Health website.

The status of (products that contain) the following 10 chemicals is ‘Licence issued’.

PB-22 1-pentyl-1H-indole-3-carboxylic acid 8-quinolinyl ester
AB-FUBINACA N-[(1S)-1-(aminocarbonyl)-2-methylpropyl]-1-[(4-fluorophenyl)methyl]-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide
5F-PB-22 1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indole-3-carboxylic acid 8-quinolinyl ester
CP-55,244 (2S,4S,4aS,6R,8aR)-6-(hydroxymethyl)-4-[2-hydroxy-4-(2-methyloctan-2-yl)phenyl]-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-decahydronaphthalen-2-ol
* (S)-N-(1-amino-3, 3dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-(5-fluoropentyl-1H-indole-3-caboxamide
AB-005 [1-[(1-methyl-2-piperidinyl)methyl]-1H-indol-3-yl](2,2,3,3-tetramethylcyclopropyl)-methanone
SGT-24
SGT-42
CL-2201
Fluoropentyl, fluoro-1-naphthoyl

The status of (products that contain) the following 6 chemicals is ‘Under consideration’.

LDD/3
1-(5-fluoropenty)-3-(4-fluoro-1-naphthoyl)indole
SGT-7
SGT-19
SGT-55
SGT-56

There’s no doubt that the Psychoactive Substances Act is a watershed. Whereas previous posts were lists of synthetic cannabinoids that the government had *banned*, this is a list of synthetic cannabinoids that the government has *approved*. It’s unprecendented! But is it a good?

You might think that as both a libertarian and a psychoactive substances aficionado I’d be all for this ground-breaking, world-leading legislation. But I’m not. I haven’t resiled from my previous assertion that, when all is said and done, the Psychoactive Substances Act is pure evil. Here’s why.

Succinctly (in the words of Ringo Starr), “everything government touches turns to crap.”

Let’s take a closer look at the list.

Chemically speaking, we know the structure (identity) of PB-22, AB-FUBINACA, 5F-PB-22, CP-55,244 and AB-005. But what about SGT-7, SGT-19, SGT-24, SGT-42, SGT-55, SGT-56 and LDD/3? No one but the manufacturer seems to know what they are. I doubt that even the Ministry of Health knows what they are. Mere names mean nothing. See that bird? There is a difference between the name of the thing and what goes on.

What about CL-2201? No idea. I’d hazard a guess that it’s a chlorine analogue of AM-2201. Who knows?

What about Fluoropentyl, fluoro-1-naphthoyl? Chemically speaking, this is pure gibberish.

Essentially, the government has approved for manufacture, sale and use a bunch of *unidentified* chemicals. But it gets worse.

PB-22 BB-22

The compound on the left is PB-22 which has interim approval. The compound on the right is BB-22 which was banned as from 9 May 2013 by Peter Dunne. They are structurally similar. They are analogues.

Supposedly, under the now repealed section 4C of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, Peter Dunne was (with respect to BB-22) “satisfied that the substance, preparation, mixture, or article that is to be specified in the notice poses, or may pose, a risk of harm to individuals, or to society.” According to the Ministry of Health FAQ, PB-22 is “shown to pose no more than a low risk of harm to people using [it]” but BB-22 is “known to have adverse effects on people using [it].” How’s that supposed to work? I call bullshit.

But it gets even worse.

AB-005 XLR-11_structure

The compound on the left is AB-005 which has interim approval. The compound on the right is XLR-11 which was banned as from 13 July 2012 by Peter Dunne. They are structurally similar. They are analogues.

The problem here is that XLR-11 has been linked to acute kidney injury in some users. Now the Ministry of “Health” has seen fit to approve an analogue of a suspected kidney toxin for human use. But it’s legal so it must be safe, right? Yeah right.

The Psychoactive Substances Act has nothing to do with your freedom or your health. It has everything to do with big government and mammon worship.

The government has lost the War on Drugs. Now it’s taking an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” approach. And we should be afraid. Very afraid.

6 thoughts on “What have you been smoking?”

  1. I have the belief that as this situation becomes ever crazier, the case for cannabis law reform (at the least) will become ever more difficult to deny. Part of this belief is that at some point things will be so crazy that everyone will take a step back and in a moment of clarity legalise cannabis.

    However, it’s hard to see how things could get crazier from here. What you wrote about the analogues shows that the whole thing is a complete crapshoot.

    THC analogues, anyone?

  2. just smoked some of this stuff , 🙂 🙂 :(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

    ripped to shit haha. so bad for you .

    legalize weed and then no one has to smoke this.

  3. Awesome post, Richard.

    I’d differ myself and note that what we have here is private sector cowboys encrappenating the market for psychedelic drugs rather than government itself being the problem; although I am always mad-down for another round of Blame Peter Dunne 😀

    Glad you did the research with them analogues, too 🙂

  4. All this spice as it is named is highly addictive, Iv just done seven months in h.m.p armley ( Leeds), everyone on the wings is gettin in to debt people are gettin slashed up and cut up with blades. People don’t realise, that if you smoke it for s few months it’ can make you INCONTINENT,people on one wing have started to wear man nappies, cause it must lose your bowels, Iv recently stopped smoking spice, and I’m going for a check up to see if Iv any problems,,
    I hope to God that I’m okay. ?
    From experience I would strongly recommend Don’t do it.

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