Moscow Police See Huge Spike in Confiscated Synthetic Marijuana

By The Moscow Times

Feb. 25, 2015

Moscow police seized about 630 percent more synthetic marijuana in 2014 than the previous year, state news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Police Chief Anatoly Yakunin said that new versions of the drug, commonly called "spice," are "saturating the drug market," and that criminal cases involving the drug have more than doubled.

Last year about three dozen Russians died from using spice, which is made from synthetic compounds meant to mimic the effects of marijuana.

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