How To Tell If Weed Is Laced & How To  Recognize Laced Weed?

Shefali Sinha
Laced Weed: How To Recognise It - theislandnow

Curious if your weed is spiked? How To Tell If Weed Is Laced? Sometimes our tolerance reaches the point where cannabis seems ineffective. 

But folks have been known to lace it with wild stuff like cocoa plants, crushed glass, or even car sprays. 

Surprisingly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Research suggests there’s way more out there. 

If you suspect you’ve encountered adulterated weed, get medical help pronto if it’s still in your system. Spotting laced weed ain’t easy—looks can be deceiving. 

Only after partaking will you truly know. But fear not, we’ve got all the answers to save you from such antics!

Laced Weed

What Is Laced Weed?

Simply put, it is a cannabis CBD flower as an amalgam of different unwanted substances. 

Generally, there are two basic ways to lace weed or marijuana with other chemicals or substances.

One is crushing and then sprinkling the substances in the ground weed. 

The other is to roll up the weed or marijuana as a joint and dip it in the liquid of a drug or chemical, resulting in the wet weed you often encounter.

Marijuana is laced with hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, angel dust, LSD, etc. 

Weed is not commonly laced with marijuana, but that happens too sometimes. But that’s not all. Weed combines with other vicious stuff too. 

You might find embalming fluid, insecticide, fungi, washing liquid, lead, and even Fentanyl mixed weed.

Fentanyl is an opioid that works as a painkiller and even for anesthesia. In the cannabis world, it falls in the category of illicit drugs used for recreational purposes. 

What’s unique about it is its potency, and it is so dangerous that even the smallest amount laced with weed can cause serious effects.

Sometimes, weed edibles also have contaminants. A typical example of laced edibles is the gummies people usually consume. 

However, unlike laced marijuana, edibles do not pose a lethal threat. The high amount of THC in the edibles may cause sedative effects like drowsiness, anxiety, slowed breathing, slurred speech, etc.

Why Is Weed Laced?

You must think, why would anyone mix weed with such nasty things? After all, weed has healing properties and different purposes. The answer is simple; people do it to make extra profit.

You will not find laced weed at a local dispensary because each drug passes strict regulations and tests before reaching the general public. 

It is when you buy marijuana while moving in the street or ill-famed places that there are chances of it being laced.

Shady people sell weed by lacing it with different things to hide the low-quality weed. This is also to make the cannabis feel heavy. 

Another reason marijuana is laced is that dealers want to retain customers more than anything. So they lace weed with addictive drugs to keep the people coming for more.

This causes marijuana dependency in the customers without their knowledge, and they keep returning. 

Some even have to go for addiction treatment later on in the future. However, instances of dealers lacing hard drugs with weed are rare. 

That’s because hard drugs and other substances are expensive, and the economic advantage would be tiny.

So local shop dealers sell marijuana with other psychoactive substances and contaminants that increase their intensity and weight, making them dangerous.

Other reasons include making the laced weed feel more potent or appealing to the eye. People deliberately use tiny mirror pieces and even food coloring to make the weed more charismatic.

Therefore, having a habit of checking your joints can save your life.

How To Tell If Weed Is Laced?

Generally, it is difficult to tell whether a weed is laced or not just by looking at it. 

Some substances can change the taste, smell, color, and even texture, while others don’t leave any trace. 

Especially for the inexperienced eye, determining if marijuana is pure or not can be almost impossible.

Some regular recreational cannabis users say that a difference in smell or taste can be a distinguishing factor.

Since different strains can work with other drugs, you must learn about each. 

This will help you know which medication you are dealing with. So without further ado, let’s dive right in.

How To Tell If Weed Is Laced

Is Your Weed Laced With Coke?

Cocaine is not very common but is sometimes laced with marijuana, as Coke is one of the most consumed drugs.

For reference, Coke is white and has a powder-like texture similar to powdered sugar. 

But it resembles sugar in texture only; the odor of cocaine feels like something taken straight out of a factory, like some solution used in the coca plant for extracting the substance.

It is also known as Primo among the locals, and cocaine-laced weed usually comes in joints or bowls. Cocaine tastes bitter and has a weird metal touch to it, but it does something stranger.

As soon as you smoke it, you will feel the sensations in your mouth going numb. This happens in no time, and after that, you will feel no taste whatsoever.

An easy method to check if you have cocaine-laced weed is slightly crushing the bud between your fingers. 

The trichomes on cannabis are sticky and don’t come off quickly — a tad bit of powder falling is fine, indicating it is pure cannabis. But if the powdery substance falls abnormally, know that your weed bud has cocaine.

The best thing to do would be to throw it away, even if the price tag makes you cry. Better to weep in your home than shed tears in an ICU.

  • Symptoms Of Cocaine-Laced Weed

Cocaine is famous for its stimulant effects, and cannabis for sedation. People combine the two to have a two-in-one combination of stimulant and sedative effects but are unaware of the outcomes.

The idea sounds fun, but consuming cocaine and weed together is a welcoming catastrophe to your body. 

The two are highly harmful and toxic for your system when consumed together. It affects your brain, lungs, and major arteries in the heart.

It may constrict your arteries, restricting the blood flow, which can cause intensified heart rate and stiffness of your muscles. 

Sadly, this is not where it ends; if you smoke cocaine-laced weed for longer periods, you may face fatal outcomes: a heart attack, cardiac arrest, cardiac rupture, or even heart stroke.

Other than this, you will feel some effects on your bodily functioning. These include slurred speech, respiratory depression, insomnia, blood pressure, and increased concentration. 

A strange feeling of numbness follows and can potentially lead to paranoia.

You will also feel increased energy in your body due to the stimulant effects, followed by languidness, restlessness, agitation, and pinching pain in your lungs, heart, and mind.

  • Is Your Weed Laced With LSD (Acid)?

Contrary to its nickname, Rainbow Joint, LSD is a drug that travels to the brain instantly. It is used to produce hallucinations when you smoke marijuana but does not have any addictive substances.

To put it simply, acid messes with our perceptions and senses of how things work as soon as they enter our system. You might think consuming acid can be lethal, but in laced weed, it is not. 

There is a proper, ethical process for consuming LSD — no wonder it exists in the first place.

The LSD heats to a fairly hot temperature which helps break down the drug’s components. This way, the laced marijuana does not leave behind any toxic effects. But that’s not how our general public likes to consume it.

People roll a joint filled with weed, marijuana, or cannabis. They make a sharp nip at the front and dip it into the LSD. 

Any sane person would throw it right away, but these people don’t. They take it to their mouth and put it between their lips, ignite it, and suck it in. As soon as the smoked laced weed hits the throat, you feel high.

The effect is so strong that you lose control over your nerves and feel like you are floating in the air — not that it is happening in real life.

It is so strong and potent that even the smallest amount can cause you to have severe hallucinations and anxiety. 

LSD can stay in your system for more than 15 hours, and the effects may be visible until 12 hours after consuming the substance.

  • Symptoms Of LSD-Laced Weed

You must be thinking now, what symptoms does LSD have? Is it lethal? Can it damage your internal organs? Well, take a breath.

The answer is no. LSD is not lethal when consumed in a low or moderate amount. However, it does have powerful effects. Lacing cannabis with LSD will give you a powerful and dark hallucinating experience.

You might also not be able to use your auditory, hearing perfectly, or tasting senses. This may last anywhere from immediate impact after consumption to long after the effects wear off.

All this happens until the effects are under control and you are on a safe roller coaster. But when it turns bad, you may have severe headaches, pain in organs, anxiety, anorexia, agitation, and terrible hallucinations.

However, this is common with high consumption of THC too. One advantage is that you know you won’t pass away with LSD in your system.

That, too, is only for small amounts; excessive consumption may or may not lead to fatal consequences.

  • Is Your Weed Heroin Laced?

Heroin – its fame comes from its name. One of the most dangerous, harmful, and destructive drugs you can lace marijuana with. 

The marijuana addiction you get from heroin-laced weed is nearly impossible to attain from any other substance. 

The two drugs’ mixed sedation and psychoactive effects will make you go swirling.

A distinguishing factor of heroin is its color. Heroin has a brown-yellowish color and a texture like that of a powder. 

You can apply the same rubbing technique mentioned above. Crush it between your fingers, and the excess fall-off will explain many things.

Its smell is like vinegar and rubber, and you can’t bear being near it for long. It may also be small, like rotted almonds, garbage, or mammals’ excretion. 

This odor is not common in weed, so if you smell anything close, there’s a high chance there’s heroin in your weed.

  • Symptoms Of Heroin-Laced Weed

Heroin is a powerful drug with highly intoxicating effects. Unlike a few years ago, heroin has become very common among recreational cannabis users, especially in the form of a delta-8 cigarette

Although it provides feelings of boosted energy and relaxation, it is always followed by intense lethargic behavior, discomfort, and more.

If you smoke it individually, you will instantly feel high, and it will be unlike any other intoxication you may have experienced. Now combine this with weed and double the total effect.

You’re getting where I’m getting, right? The longer you smoke synthetic marijuana, the more adverse effects you see. You will begin by feeling euphoria, traveling to your mind, and relaxing your body. 

Next, your heart rate gradually decreases until it becomes so slow you can barely feel it. Your breathing will become ragged, and you will begin losing consciousness. 

You may completely black out and not remember what happened the next day. It may also lead to sleeplessness, heavy body, annoyance, pain, and confusion.

This does not usually happen but if you encounter such a situation, seek medical help immediately.

  • Is Your Weed Laced With PCP (Angel Dust)?

PCP, angel dust, or Phencyclidine, is a potent drug that is cocaine’s lookalike. It has the same white color and a powdery texture. 

The only difference is that the taste of PCP is rather harsh. You might feel a chemical taste, and it is very easy to lace marijuana with it.

It can cause hallucinations and changes in vision and usually helps enhance psychoactive effects in one’s system. 

PCP is commonly found in the local weed markets by names like dusted weed, super weed, wet weed, etc.

Its examination process is the same as Coke. Rub it in your hands; it breaks apart with excessive white particles; it’s shady. However, PCP’s use as a liquid is also becoming famous. You dip the joint into the liquid. 

You can see little white crystals on the joint when it dries off. That is one way to check if your cannabis-laced PCP, but finding it can be a challenge.

  • Symptoms Of PCP-Laced Weed

PCP-laced weed is pretty scary to consume. It will instantly take you away from your thoughts and emotions, and you will feel a euphoric high. 

Thanks to its hallucinating properties, you will begin seeing things around quickly.

Apart from these basic effects, you will feel numbness, mood swings, potential seizures, and weird agitation.

  • Is Your Weed Fentanyl Laced?

Fentanyl-laced marijuana is not very common to find nowadays. That doesn’t mean saying people don’t use it. They do, but less than average. 

The reputation of being an opioid drug follows Fentanyl as doctors use it in hospitals for anesthesia and painkillers.

A good thing about this drug is that, in comparison to some high-end medications, it is very inexpensive. You can buy whole buds of Fentanyl laced weed for the money you will get heroin or marijuana regularly.

The only drawback is its strength, as Fentanyl is highly potent and should never be consumed with other materials. It is more than 50x more powerful than our top-of-the-list heroin and around 80x more potent than morphine. Now, that’s saying something.

Many organizations have also begun realizing the dangers of laced Fentanyl and are considering banning it. 

But on the other hand, people are voting to legalize marijuana and bring it to more fame. It is combined with marijuana the same way LSD sticks to most substances.
 

  • Symptoms Of Fentanyl-Laced Weed

Owing to Fentanyl’s strength, even the smallest amount of two drops mixed with another drug can destroy your body. 

Some common symptoms that have been reported by people who consumed Fentanyl laced weed are as follows:

They feel instant drowsiness and lethargy after consuming the first dose. The body stops responding to the surroundings, and you can feel it getting cold. 

People also reported that their skin becomes cold, turning a light color of blue, purple, and even gray.

The pulse and breathing keep decreasing until it reaches the bare minimum. The eyes begin rolling around until they go backward, and the pupils look pinpoint.
 

A general conception is that the person completely loses control over himself under such a situation, which is true to some extent.

That’s why if you think your weed is; laced with Fentanyl, it’s best to throw it away.

  • Is Your Marijuana Laced With Contaminants Or Other Foul Stuff?

Often weed is laced with other harmful additives instead of hard drugs. The drawback is that these additives can be anything from glass pieces to cleaners to diesel. Preview what dangers these pose below.

  • Laundry Detergents

As absurd as it sounds, some dealers add laundry detergents to joints or raw weed to increase potency and make it more appealing. It affects the smells, too, by the way. 

Since everyone is well aware of detergents in general, you should be able to spot them immediately after consuming them.

A general rule to check if your weed has soap or detergent is to put the bud in water and stir it. Detergent suds up, and you will notice bubbles, water turning white, or soap film appearing in the glass. 

If this happens, know it has been laced with laundry detergent.

Some common symptoms you might face after consuming detergent-laced weed include respiratory problems sore throat followed by pain, nausea, and weird numbness. 

You might have to get a stomach wash if you consume an extra amount. But that’s the maximum. You won’t die from laundry detergent laced with weed.

  • Embalming Fluid

Embalming fluid is a liquid consisting of a combination of different solutions. Its primary purpose is to preserve dead bodies as it goes on all over them. 

It has another name, Formaldehyde, and has a strange pickle-like smell. Since it is a liquid, it does not have any color and mainly comprises substances marijuana only.

It has intense symptoms, including headaches, chest pain, nausea, heartbeat, and diarrhea. Some people have also reported having hallucinations and paranoia, but it is not as common.

  • Crushed Glass

By far, the most dangerous yet most used third-grade additive included is crushed Glass. Glass makes the weed feel heavier and shinier. It shines because cannabis usually has trichomes all over the body, making it look appealing.

Dealers add shattered glass to make the cannabis look like it contains trichomes. If you notice white crystals falling from your bud (which shouldn’t fall in the first place), take out an old CD.

Rub the bud on the CD lightly, and you will see scratches. Regular weed does not scratch surfaces, no matter how bad the rub. Throw the bud away as soon as you notice scratches.

  • Diesel, Perfumes & Food Coloring

Some people even go to great lengths, like using fuel and scents in weed to mask foul smells. This may also be to enhance the smell. 

Similarly, dyed pot is also used to sell weed as it makes the entire concept of marijuana look appealing.

Dying the buds is more common in countries where legal marijuana is unavailable. Usually, these buds are violet or green and rather easy to spot. 

An inexperienced person can distinguish between organic marijuana and marijuana laced with other drugs.

What To Do If You Have Smoked Laced Weed?

First things first, don’t panic — it won’t solve the problem. After consuming laced weed, you will instantly feel like your breath is not coming and anxious and uncomfortable. 

You won’t die of overdosing on marijuana, but if you lace marijuana with another drug, its overdose might be lethal.

If you have someone by your side, request them to drive you to the hospital; otherwise, call a marijuana helpline to tell them the situation and ask what should be your next step. This is until the symptoms are in control and you only lightly sweat.

If you feel your heart rate is increasing or decreasing, your senses are malfunctioning, or you feel unable to speak, call 911 immediately. You need medical help immediately, and not doing so may cause your life.

How To Avoid Laced Marijuana?

There are some self-devised ways to avoid laced marijuana; these are as follows:

If you are buying from a dispensary or a local legal drugstore, ask the retailer for the COA of their flowers, edibles, and raw weed. They will show you the lab reports if any, and then you can make the decision.

Initially, go for a small amount only. Even if it’s good, you don’t want to get too high too soon, especially if you bought it from a street or unknown place.

Learn more about the seller if you can’t go to the legal market. Is he the original owner and grower of the weed, or is it coming down from a supply chain? Believe your gut. 

If your instinct and heart are telling you there is something shady with the marijuana-laced, you should cast it out.

Make your marijuana and learn how to grow weed at home. It is easy to grow, fresh, and organic. The best part is that you did the growing, so you know it’s all clean and safe to use. It is better to buy solid, raw marijuana instead of pre-ground weed. 

It makes it easier for dealers to add nasty stuff to it, especially when you are unaware of the person selling it.

Get a drug test toolkit to help with testing cannabis and other drugs.

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