Synthetic marijuana use triggers alarm across US

A man smokes K2 or "Spice", a synthetic marijuana drug, along a street in East Harlem in New York City on August 5, 2015 . (AFP photo)

Cities across the US are experiencing a deadly epidemic of synthetic marijuana usage which can cause extreme reactions in some users, setting off alarm bells by law enforcement and public health officials.

There has been a dramatic surge in potentially lethal overdoses of “fake weed” and drug-related offenses nationwide, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

"We're seeing it pop up all around the country," acting DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg told NPR public radio this week.

"The dosage amounts vary. The chemicals vary. You and I could buy and use the same packet... and have vastly different reactions to it," he said. "It's a monstrous problem."

So far this year, poison control centers across the United States have received over 5,200 calls specific to "fake weed," according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

That's more than the 3,680 calls they got in all of last year and the 2,668 calls taken in 2013.
"Fake weed causes extreme anxiety, paranoia, panic attacks, alienation/disassociation, psychotic episodes and hallucinations," warns k2zombiedc.com, a city-run website aimed at Washington, DC, youth.
"This behavior has been labeled 'the zombie effect,'" it says.

Synthetic marijuana is sometimes sold illegally at some corner stores and gas stations, but it can easily be purchased on the Internet after a simple online search.

Synthetic marijuana was the second most consumed drug among US high school students after marijuana, according to a 2012 survey by the University of Michigan.

To make matters worse, it is nearly impossible to identify synthetic marijuana using standard drug screening tests, a big headache for police.

"We've made about 65 arrests in a couple of months now of people that are selling this stuff and buying this stuff on the street and we can't prosecute any of them," Washington, DC, police chief Cathy Lanier told a community meeting this week.