The term ‘synthetic cannabis’ has been widely used to cover a diverse group of cannabinoid receptor agonists. In this presentation we discuss the characteristics of these drugs, and present the case that the term is a dangerous misnomer that has negative clinical and public health implications. We describe the pharmacodynamics of these drugs, their epidemiology, mechanisms of action, physiological effects and how these differ from THC. We argue that they constitute a new drug class: synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) which have more characteristics in common with psychostimulants than with cannabis [55 minute presentation].