The Dallas County Public Health Department has alerted the population that products containing synthetic cannabinoids — also known as Spice, K2, legal weed, fake marijuana, synthetic THC — have been contaminated with brodifacoum, a chemical commonly used in rat poison.
According to the alert, a total of 94 cases have been identified in five states: Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Maryland. Two deaths have occurred as of April 5, 2018.
Brodifacoum can cause severe bleeding problems. The Dallas County Public Health Department recommends that if you or anyone you know has used synthetic cannabinoids and starts experiencing severe bleeding or bruising, have someone take them to the hospital immediately or call 911.
Please tell the healthcare providers about the possible link between symptoms and synthetic cannabinoid use.
No cases have yet been identified in Iowa, but the Dallas County Public Health Department said it was sharing this information with the public because of the cases in surrounding states.
Why must they keep things so stupidly and needlessly complicated? There are far fewer health risks and outright dangerous alkaloids in good old marijuana. Granted, pot is not a panacea, and neither is it harmless. I haven’t touched it in 20 years and could happily live a quite happy, healthy and lengthy time without it. If they’d just legalize good quality and unadulterated weed, the artificial garbage would not be in demand. I recall what used to be called “turkey” uppers being sold at truck stops, head shops and convenience stores back in the early 1980s. The emergency rooms hated the illegal stuff worse than the white cross and cocaine popularly available back then. They knew what to expect and how to treat those overdosing on the legal drugs but were usually flummoxed about how to deal with the illegal speed. Then as now, the chemists working for the truck-stop drug companies were constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the law by creating new legal compounds faster that the state could outlaw them. The medical professionals were often helpless in the face of this. Don’t come complaining to me about gateway drugs. If you give your kids caffeinated soda or sweetened breakfast cereal, you’re bringing up another generation of tweekers. Also remind yourselves how Prohibition merely gave organized crime its seed money to expand. Just give it up, folks. If people want to get high, they’re going to get high, and there is little to nothing you can really do about it. Please, just let the stoners have a clean and well-regulated substance. If you can keep a well-stocked refrigerator around them, they will likely never give anyone a problem.