K2 Marijuana Poisonings Show Dangers of Synthetic Drugs

Some people on the streets of New York City recently appeared to be overdosing on opioid painkillers after their breathing slowed and they became lethargic. Others appeared to be overdosing on crack cocaine, exhibiting agitated and violent behavior. Experts at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), however, say those zombielike streetwalkers were on the same drug: K2, or synthetic marijuana. In all, the NIDA reported that 130 New Yorkers were hospitalized after smoking the drug that can be purchased over-the-counter at less-than-reputable bodegas. The next day, NYPD officers inspected five retail establishments on the suspicion they were selling K2, but none was found on the premises. Representatives of the Doe Fund -- a nonprofit that helps people with histories of homelessness, incarceration, and substance abuse -- held a demonstration around a deli suspected of being a primary source of K2 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area in Brooklyn. "What we are seeing now with K2 is exactly what we saw with the crack epidemic in the 1980s," George McDonald, the Doe Fund's founder and president, said in a statement. These cases were only a handful of the estimated 8,000 K2-related emergency room visits in New York City since 2015. It's been illegal in the nation's largest city since 2012. K2's a hell of a drug Unlike marijuana derived from plants, K2 has been linked to a few deaths. According to a study of 456 synthetic marijuana hospitalizations from 2010 to 2015 by the U....
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news