Synthetic Drugs

STATISTICS AND FACTS

• Calls to poison control centers related to synthetic marijuana use increased in the United States by almost 80 percent between 2010 and 2012.3

• A 2013 U.S. government report found the number of emergency department visits in 2011 involving toxic reactions to synthetic marijuana had increased 2.5 times, to 28,531.1

• In 2014, “K2” from a Texas dealer was linked to 120 overdoses in Austin and Dallas in one week alone.

There have been numerous fatal car accidents documented involving people under the influence of synthetic marijuana:

• While jogging, a 62-year-old man was struck by a 20-year-old man who tested positive for synthetic marijuana.

• Another 20-year-old man smashed into a tree and died after smoking synthetic marijuana.

• A brother and sister were killed when a garbage truck drove 500 feet across a highway divider at 55 mph and sliced off the roof of their vehicle. The driver of the truck admitted to using synthetic marijuana.



SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS

Effects on the Mind:

  • Unresponsiveness
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Confusion
  • Altered time sense
  • Extreme anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Severe paranoia
  • Delusions
  • Hallucinations
  • Psychosis
  • Potential suicide
  • Some users under the influence of synthetic marijuana have been involved in homicides

Effects on the Body:

  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Heavy sweating
  • Uncontrolled/spastic body movements
  • Acute kidney injury
  • Rapid heart rate
  • High blood pressure
  • Reduced blood supply to the heart
  • Heart attack
  • Convulsions
  • Seizures
  • Strokes