Synthetic cannabinoid T9HC by Euphoria nearly killed me in Greece.
I’m not sure whether to call this a bad trip, a green out, semi-synthetic cannabinoid poisoning, or just my nervous system filing a formal complaint against me. But I’m writing this because maybe it’ll help someone avoid making the same dumb cocktail of decisions.
I’m currently traveling in Greece. I had been dealing with pretty heavy jet lag, poor sleep since the flight, early morning sightseeing, and general travel exhaustion. In Athens, I bought some “legal cannabis” with T9HC, the seller told me “its pretty much like weed”. Well, Ive been smoking actual cannabis for almost 20 years daily, and I can promise you, that shit is nothing like normal weed, before yesterday I had never had a panic attack nor any bad trip with weed, I’m a functional cannabis chronic user, I finished university, got a job, started a family etc… I just wish I had read more Reddit reports on this substance T9HC because apparently I’m not the only one who had a diabolical experience with synthetic this shit.
The product looked like flower/pre-roll, but it didn’t really smell or look like normal weed. The effect, though, hit like strong skunk on the short term, but heavier. Later I realized it was probably some newer or semi-synthetic cannabinoid like T9HC/DHC/HHC-type stuff, one of those molecules that appears whenever lawmakers ban the previous one. They ban one compound, chemists tweak another, and consumers become unpaid lab rats for capitalism’s little haunted chemistry set. Like, seriously, politicians ARE DOING MORE HARM to the population with their war on cannabis, because these wannabe breaking bad basement chemists will just keep tweaking with the chemical molecules of THC so they can provide the next “legal high” with substances no one knows what they actually are or do.
As for the actual diabolical trip It started 30 minutes after smoking with nausea, cold sweats, dizziness, and a physical feeling of collapse. Then came absolute panic, paranoia, depersonalization, and the classic “I am going to die right now and nobody understands how serious this is” feeling. At some points it felt more psychedelic than weed: demonic imagery, a sense of hell, spiritual paranoia, like I had taken bad acid mixed with wine, exhaustion, and divine punishment in tourist form. I’m not a particular religious person, but the same day I had made a trip to the Greek Island of Patmos, where JoHan the Apostle is said to have received a version of the apocalypse, and I think that left a deep impression on my psyche, like the Apostle John gave me a guided tour of hell, I saw demons and stuff. I’m just bringing this out because I’ve seen people writing similar experiences to mine, the word “devil” and ”diabolical” come a lot on these reports. Like, my wife was freaking out, she wanted to call an ambulance but I told her “it’s too late for that. I don’t need an ambulance, I need a priest to administer me the last rites”
For a while I thought I had been sold spice/K2 or some synthetic nightmare. Looking back now, I think that’s less likely. The more likely explanation is that it was a horrible combination of factors:
* heavy jet lag;
* sleep deprivation;
* alcohol;
* overeating;
* dehydration;
* boat fatigue / motion stress;
* a potent and unfamiliar cannabinoid product;
* wrong dose;
* being abroad, outside my normal routine.
So, no, it wasn’t “just weed.” It was a small ecumenical council of bad decisions.
The weirdest part is that I’ve used cannabis many times in my life and had never felt anything like this. This wasn’t just “a little paranoia.” It was a full sensation of death, hell, ego collapse, and my nervous system opening the Book of Revelation without asking permission.
Eventually it passed. I slept, hydrated, ate simple food, took 24 hours off everything, and decided to cut alcohol for the rest of the trip. I’m fine now, clear-headed and physically okay. But it was terrifying enough that I wanted to write this down.
**Harm reduction / moral of the story:**
Don’t mix strong or unfamiliar cannabinoids with alcohol.
“Legal” does not mean safe. quite the opposite
Psychoactive hemp products sold in shops as cannabis may not be traditional cannabis.
If the flower doesn’t smell or look normal and the effect hits way too hard, throw it away.
. If you think you “know weed,” remember that these new cannabinoids do not care about your résumé.