Health officials are brainstorming ideas of how to combat the nationwide outpouring of hospital visits for synthetic marijuana.
During April alone, there were more than 1,000 illnesses from this substance, which is double the amount from January and March, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported. This year’s statistics have quadrupled in comparison to 2014.
Recently, as hospital admissions have increased, Alabama, Mississippi and New York health departments have delivered warnings about the usage of synthetic marijuana. Arizona, Florida, New Jersey and Texas followed suit by reporting similar cases to the public.
Mississippi health professionals informed their state about more than 400 hospital room visits during April. More than 120 emergency visits associated with synthetic marijuana took place between April 8 and April 15 in New York.
Common effects of this drug are “psychotic episodes, seizures, severe anxiety, muscle spasms, and suicidal thoughts,” according to Think Progress. Common names for synthetic marijuana are K2, spice, green giant, red giant, geeked up, caution, smacked, wicked X, AK-47 and legal marijuana.
Health representatives are unsure about whether the greater number in April happened because of increased drug usage or because of a fatal mixture of chemicals in the drug. Researchers are tallying injuries and adverse reactions, but an accurate account of fatalities is still unknown, the New York Times explained.
Sources:
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- http://outbreaknewstoday.com/nyc-reports-120-synthetic-marijuana-er-visits-in-past-week-76421/
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- http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/04/24/3651032/spike-in-synthetic-marijuana-deaths/
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- http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/synthetic-marijuana-lands-thousands-young-people-in-er-especially-young-males
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- http://k2zombiedc.com/parents/