Rare News Desk
This article has been updates to further clarify the difference in kush and marijuana.
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The risks of drugs are inherent, but a recent seizure by the Houston Police Department is taking the danger of marijuana and drugs that look like pot a to a new, and very real, level.
On Thursday, HPD discovered 600 pounds of kush in a vacant home allegedly run by at least two suspected manufacturers who are now behind bars.
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Authorities are calling it one of the largest seizures ever in Houston, but what’s more concerning is how the synthetic drugs were found to be laced with paint thinner.
“When we’re telling young people and the people that would use this stuff that they’re actually ingesting poison, we’re not making it up,” HPD Chief Art Acevedo said in an interview.
According to the Houston Press, ‘kush’ is a slang term for synthetic marijuana, but its effects are closer to that of LSD or other hallucinogens, selling at much lower rates than pure pot or MDMA – the base ingredient of many hallucinogens.
But, to confuse matters further, ‘kush’ is also a street name for natural weed, and the seizure also seems to be directly opposite of the HPD, Office of the Mayor, and district attorney’s recent endorsement of a new marijuana program, where possession of fewer than four ounces of pot won’t result in jail time.
According to a self-described “regular” pot user in Houston who wishes to remain anonymous, avoiding the chemically-modified weed is not difficult if you have an “established connection,” and a “reputable, recommended seller,” although the two can look very similar
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re going to buy weed,” he said further. “But, you’re also buying weed, so the risk is really on you.”
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Chief Acevedo said the intent of city officials in implementing the city’s new approach to weed is not to go after buyers, rather, they are targeting the manufacturers of “poison” on the streets: “A word of caution to those still doing this [kush] stuff: Quit or move out of the city of Houston while you still can.”
