'American weed' is more dangerous than marijuana and is 'attracting' young people

This is an addictive substance, when used it will cause strong hallucinations, psychosis, dilated pupils, agitation, stress, anxiety, and can lead to extreme thoughts that are harmful to oneself and others.

Associate Professor, Major General Ngo Sy Hien, Director of the Institute of Criminal Science - Ministry of Public Security, said that in the past 3 months, the Institute has conducted appraisals on 9 cases related to the buying, selling and using of "American weed".

Previously, "American weed" appeared in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but now it continues to appear in provinces and cities like Hai Phong, Binh Dinh, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Ben Tre, Dak Lak, etc., proving that it is a "hot commodity" among young people.

Specifically, Dak Lak Provincial Police caught 2 cases. In the first case, the subject was Vu Manh Phu, (22 years old), residing in Quang Phu town, Cu M'gar district, who was selling Bonzai brand "American weed" to Pham Phu Nam, (16 years old), also residing in Quang Phu town, Cu M'gar district. On the spot, 6 small plastic bags containing "American weed" were seized.

"American weed" is packaged in bags and rolled into cigarettes for use.

Searching Phu's residence, the police also seized 11 more packages of "American weed". At the police station, Phu declared that this was "marijuana", each package was sold for 50,000 VND. However, through examination at the Institute of Criminal Science - Ministry of Public Security, it was determined that the dried plant sample sent for examination contained XLR-11, a dangerous addictive substance found in "American weed", which is even more dangerous than marijuana.

In the second case, via the internet, a subject named Trung, in Buon Ma Thuot City, "ordered" Tran Nam Thanh, residing on Khuat Duy Tien Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, to buy drugs and send them to Trung.

On September 6, Thanh bought some "fragrant grass" and a package of crystal meth for 1.5 million VND, put it in a cardboard box and sent it to his sister, Tran Thi Huyen Trang, residing in Tan An ward, Buon Ma Thuot city, asking Trang to receive the cardboard box and someone would come to pick it up. Trang herself did not know that the cardboard box contained drugs.

Mobile police seized "American weed".

On September 8, Ms. Trang brought a cardboard box containing drugs to the market where she sells groceries and was discovered by the police. Inside the cardboard box, in addition to the crystal meth weighing more than 4.4 grams, there was a package of dried herbs labeled "Scooby Snax", weighing nearly 2 grams, suspected to be "American weed".

As CAND Newspaper has reported many times, the police force has continuously discovered and arrested cases of buying, selling, storing, and using "American weed" that have occurred recently in many provinces. This is an addictive substance, when used it will cause strong hallucinations, psychosis, dilated pupils; agitation, stress, anxiety, and can lead to extreme thoughts that are harmful to oneself and others.

However, the addictive "American weed" (XLR-11) is not yet on the list of narcotics. Therefore, it is necessary to soon add XLR-11 to the list of narcotics to serve as a basis for the prosecution agencies at all levels to thoroughly handle the acts of buying, selling, storing, and using the dried plant called "American weed".

According to People's Police