China adding synthetic cannabinoids to list of banned drugs

China is banning the production and sale of synthetic cannabinoids, also known as “spice,” as Beijing tightens its control over drug production.

The Associated Press reported that China’s government made the announcement Tuesday, with the ban taking effect at the beginning of next month.

Synthetic cannabinoids are manufactured to target the same or similar receptors in the brain that are targeted by marijuana, but their chemical makeups can sometimes produce a range of side effects.

“The problem of new psychoactive substances has been fierce, posing severe challenges to the narcotics control work of all countries and the world. It is also a new situation and new problem and new challenge to China,” Deng Ming, the deputy director of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, said at a news conference, according to the AP.

A number of synthetic cannabinoids were banned in the U.S. in 2012 under the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act, which moved them to Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.

Synthetic cannabinoids “are not safe and may affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana,” the National Institute on Drug Abuse states.

“Their actual effects can be unpredictable and, in some cases, more dangerous or even life-threatening,” the agency states.

Tuesday’s announcement follows China’s move in 2019 to ban fentanyl and other related opioids, though chemical supply lines for criminal cartels dealing in opiates can still often be traced back to the country.