Study: Illness Caused by Synthetic Pot on the Rise

The High Times reports:

New research from the Colorado School of Medicine highlights the dangers of using synthetic marijuana, marketed under such brands as “Spice” or “K2.” The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reports that in the late summer of 2013, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was informed of an exceptionally sizable increase in the number of ER visits related to synthetic pot in the Denver metropolitan area.

Specifically, between August 21 and September 19 of last year, 263 individuals who had consumed synthetic weed were admitted to emergency rooms, all suffering from similar symptoms including altered mental states, irregular heartbeats and seizures. Roughly ten percent of those cases were sent to intensive care for ventilator-assisted breathing.