“Blow your head off”. This nickname is that of a new synthetic drug, also called PTC or buddha blue. This synthetic cannabinoid has been booming among young people in recent years. In early February, three high school students from Sucy-en-Brie, in Val-de-Marne, were hospitalized following inhaling it.
Although it can be consumed in all forms, it is mainly used by the younger generation in the form of an odorless and colorless liquid in electronic cigarettes. It does not contain any THC (or tetrahydrocannabinol), one of the molecules contained in cannabis causing psychotropic effects, but mimics the effects. A “zombie-like” effect, according to Laurent Karila, professor of addictology, psychiatrist at Paul Brousse hospital and creator of the Addiktion podcast. “The effects are quite similar to cannabis at first. The calming, relaxing sensation and anxiolytic effect then give way to hallucinations, to “a feeling that what surrounds us is not real, that our body is coming out of our body”.
Heart attacks, hallucinations and panic attacks
Buddha blue causes acute intoxication more frequently than cannabis, leading to hospitalizations. “The big difference with cannabis is that there are more overdoses, whether fatal or not, as well as complications,” explains the professor. They can first be cardiac, with heart rhythm disorders, tachycardia, or even a heart attack. PTC can also cause breathing difficulties, headaches and lead to strokes. There are also complications on the psychiatric level with the appearance of depression, delusional pictures, panic attacks and even suicidal thoughts.
“It is much, much more dangerous for health than cannabis, summarizes the psychiatrist. And in a young person who does not yet have a formed brain, the risk is even higher. If no death has so far been recorded in France following consumption of buddha blue, in the United States, several people have died following consuming it.
A drug not detectable by the usual tests
Although illegal, the blue buddha can be bought in a few clicks on the Internet and costs only a few tens of euros. Accessibility is all the more worrying as the small vials of e-liquid and sachets are “very marketed, very colorful, with somewhat funky names”, as Laurent Karila explains. As there is no THC in synthetic cannabinoids, their use cannot be detected by the tests traditionally used to identify cannabis. “Young people are smart because they know it very well. »
Synthetic cannabinoids “are particularly under surveillance in France because of their increasing distribution on the territory”, explains the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT). Nearly 4% of young French people under the age of 17 have tried a new synthetic drug at least once, according to a study published in 2018.
