The differences in effects between synthetic drugs and traditional drugs are mainly reflected in the following aspects. These differences make synthetic drugs often have stronger and unpredictable hazards.： ### 1. **Higher strength of pharmacological effect** -**Double the potency**: For example, synthetic opiate drugs (such as fentanyl analogues) may be 50-100 times more effective than heroin, and very small amounts can cause respiratory depression and death. -**Synthetic cannabinoids**: Some varieties are hundreds of times more effective than natural cannabis and may cause epilepsy, hallucinations, or acute psychosis. ### 2. **Faster onset and more intense effect** -Synthetic drugs are often designed to pass through the blood-brain barrier quickly, resulting in strong pleasure within a few seconds to a few minutes, but the accompanying physiological reactions such as rapid heartbeat and high blood pressure are also more intense, increasing the risk of sudden death. ### 3. **More extreme mental symptoms** -**Cassidones (such as "bath salts”)**: May cause severe paranoia, aggressive behavior, or self-harm, and even “zombie” behavior (such as biting others). -**Phenethylamines (such as variants of ”ecstasy")**: May cause hallucinations or panic attacks that last for several days, far longer than the action time of traditional ecstasy. ### 4. **Unpredictable toxicity** -**Complex composition**: In order to avoid supervision, the chemical structure of synthetic drugs is often slightly modified, resulting in huge differences in the effects of different batches of drugs with the same name. -**Mixed ingredients**: Often doped with other psychotropic drugs or industrial chemicals (such as rat poison and insecticide ingredients) to enhance the effect while bringing unknown toxicity. ### 5. **Physical damage is more rapid and irreversible** -**Acute organ failure**: For example, the synthesis of cassidone can lead to rhabdomyolysis and kidney failure after a single use. -**Neurotoxicity**: Some synthetic drugs can irreversible damage dopamine neurons and increase the risk of Parkinsonism, while traditional drugs such as cocaine mainly affect monoamines. ### 6. **Addiction and withdrawal reactions are more complicated** -**Rapid tolerance**: For example, synthetic opioids may cause tolerance to soar within a few days, forcing users to increase their doses. -**Mixed withdrawal symptoms**: At the same time, insanity, epilepsy and cardiovascular collapse occur. Traditional drug withdrawal is dominated by anxiety and trembling. ### 7. **Risk of abuse caused by legal lag** -Synthetic drugs often have alternatives before the introduction of new regulations. Users mistakenly believe that “legal” is equal to “safe”, and the actual risk may be higher. ### Summary： The “design” characteristics of synthetic drugs make them far superior to traditional drugs in terms of strength, toxicity, and mental effects, and because of the unstable chemical composition, every use is like “Russian roulette.” The public needs to be alert to the extremely high risk behind the “new” label and avoid falling into misunderstandings.