At least 25 people have been hospitalized in Brooklyn after using synthetic marijuana, according to New York City’s WABC. Police say they received multiple calls on Saturday for people at the intersection of Broadway and Myrtle in Bed-Stuy after they consumed K2. The patients are expected to survive.
Currently no arrests have been made, but authorities are searching for the woman responsible for dealing the K2, a synthetic compound that mimics THC. The drug has kept police in New York and elsewhere on their toes, since it's been linked to several deaths and dozens of overdoses over the years.
Thirty-three people reportedly overdosed on K2 at that same Bed-Stuy corner back in 2016. At the time, the corner was dubbed an "epicenter" of the K2 outbreak in NYC. A witness of this recent mass overdose told WABC that the area is often filled with people “passed out all over the place” after taking the drug.
Last month, one man died in Illinois after using synthetic marijuana. Other users in Illinois experienced severe bleeding, and 38 people had to be hospitalized after taking the drug. The CDC later issued an official warning about synthetic weed, citing the presence of rat poison in about 18 of the 38 patients.
"This is the first time bleeding has ever been associated with synthetic cannabinoids,” said Professor Paul L. Prather of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Arkansas. “It is certainly possible that the bleeding issues…might be due to products laced with the rat poison brodifacoum.”
