{"id":10958,"date":"2015-05-04T17:57:31","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T17:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=10958"},"modified":"2017-09-21T12:05:46","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T12:05:46","slug":"hospitals-report-hundreds-of-cases-of-illness-caused-by-synthetic-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2015\/05\/hospitals-report-hundreds-of-cases-of-illness-caused-by-synthetic-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospitals Report Hundreds of Cases of Illness Caused by Synthetic Marijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">Hospitals across the country have been reporting hundreds of cases of seriously ill people coming to the emergency room after using synthetic marijuana. In New York City, more than 120 cases were reported in a single week, according to\u202f<a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/blogs\/health\/2015\/04\/27\/402052478\/chemical-change-in-synthetic-marijuana-suspected-of-causing-illnesses\">NPR<\/a>.<a href=\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2015\/05\/hospitals-report-hundreds-of-cases-of-illness-caused-by-synthetic-marijuana\/synthetic-marijuana-4\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13525\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-13525 \" src=\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/synthetic-marijuana.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"147\" height=\"146\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/synthetic-marijuana.jpg 278w, https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/synthetic-marijuana-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 147px) 100vw, 147px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">Many cases have also been seen in Alabama and Mississippi. Several people have died, the article notes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.drugfree.org\/join-together\/synthetic-marijuana-nothing-like-real-marijuana-expert-explains\/\">Synthetic marijuana<\/a>\u202fis often sold under the name \u201cK2\u201d or \u201cSpice.\u201d According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, these drugs can be extremely dangerous. Health effects can include severe agitation and anxiety; fast, racing heartbeat and high blood pressure; nausea and vomiting; muscle spasms, seizures, and tremors; intense hallucinations and psychotic episodes; and suicidal and other harmful thoughts and\/or actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">\u201cWe have to chemically restrain and physically restrain them because they become violent and very strong. It takes four to five personnel to restrain them on a gurney,\u201d Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told NPR. One patient last week ended up in the ICU. \u201cHe was combative and required sedation in the ER,\u201d Dr. Glatter said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">There is likely something unusual about the K2 that is causing the recent rash of ER visits, Dr. Glatter notes. Makers of synthetic drugs frequently change their molecular structure, to evade laws that outlaw the drugs. The changing structure also makes the drugs more difficult to detect on drug tests. These changes make the effects of the drugs more unpredictable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">\u201cChemists are getting more and more creative in designing these structures,\u201d said Marilyn Huestis of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She added, \u201cWhat\u2019s in it today isn\u2019t going to be what\u2019s in it tomorrow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">Source:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drugfree.org\/\">www.drugfree.org<\/a> 28th April 2015<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hospitals across the country have been reporting hundreds of cases of seriously ill people coming to the emergency room after using synthetic marijuana. In New York City, more than 120 cases were reported in a single week, according to\u202fNPR. Many cases have also been seen in Alabama and Mississippi. Several people have died, the article [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-effects-of-drugs","category-legal-highs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}