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Emergence of New Classes of Recreational Drugs—Synthetic Cannabinoids and Cathinones

  • Clinical Practice: Clinical Vignettes
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ABSTRACT

Designer drugs represent an increasingly popular form of recreational substance abuse, especially amongst young adults. The two classes of designer drugs that have recently risen to prominence are the synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones. These substances are not detected by conventional drug screening methods and can often be associated with serious health consequences, including seizures, renal failure and death. Thus, clinicians should be familiar with the signs, symptoms, and toxicities associated with the use of these substances, and maintain a high level of suspicion for synthetic drugs as an alternative means of “getting high.” We present a case of a 20-year-old college student who presented to the emergency department with altered mental status and severe agitation who later admitted to using bath salts. The goal of this article is to raise awareness about these new designer drugs, their clinical presentation, and management of their intoxication.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, 1600 SW Archer Rd, PO Box 100277, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA

    Vikas Khullar MD, Ankur Jain MD & Maryam Sattari MD, MS

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  1. Vikas Khullar MD
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  2. Ankur Jain MD
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  3. Maryam Sattari MD, MS
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Correspondence to Maryam Sattari MD, MS.

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Khullar, V., Jain, A. & Sattari, M. Emergence of New Classes of Recreational Drugs—Synthetic Cannabinoids and Cathinones. J GEN INTERN MED 29, 1200–1204 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-014-2802-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-014-2802-4

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