Mississippi, Alabama Health Officials Concerned About Spike in Spice Overdoses
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chromatika/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — State health departments in Mississippi and Alabama have reported more than 300 spice overdoses in the past month, stoking concern about the danger of the synthetic marijuana.
The Mississippi State Health Department said that between April 2 and April 15, there had been 227 reports of spice-related emergency room visits. The Alabama Department of Public Health said it was aware of 98 people who came to hospitals with drug overdoses suspicious of being caused by the drug in the past month.
“Synthetic drugs are toxic to users and pose risks to the public,” the ADPH said, noting that the long-term health effects of spice and other synthetic drugs are unknown.
The MSDH notes on its website that spice’s effects, “are more powerful than marijuana, often causing severe illness and sometimes death.”
Spice is also known by other names, including K2.
Of particular concern is the increased frequency that health officials are seeing in spice overdoses. In Alabama, the six reports of exposure to synthetic cannabinoids in the first months of 2015 are far higher than the seven cases in all of 2014.
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