'Weaponised marijuana' makes you impervious to pain and gives you super human strength

It gives users super human strength, makes them impervious to pain and can be bought for as little as $2 USD across New York. It can also kill, police say.

Illegal synthetic marijuana, or "weaponised" marijuana as police are calling it, is spreading across New York, particularly among the city's homeless population who take it in search of a cheap high but often wind up hospitalised or dead.

K2, a concoction of dried herbs sprayed with chemically treated, smokable leaves that are snorted or smoked as a hallucinogen. Photo: AP Photo/Kelley McCall

Little is understood about the drug, also known as "K-2" or "spice."
A spike in hospitalistions this year, some deaths, and camera footage of crazed and violent users have prompted police to act.
"The synthetic marijuana issue has been one of great and growing concern here in New York," said NYPD Commissioner William Bratton at a press conference where he also released monthly crime statistics.
"You are going to see a lot more of it in the short term."

 Synthetic marijuana refers to herbal mixtures sold in small packets that often contain
shredded plants and chemicals that when smoked can cause hallucinations, paranoia and
even cardiac arrest. A federal ban on compounds found in synthetic marijuana products was
enacted in 2012 and it is illegal to sell it in New York State.
One video streamed at a press conference showed a naked man, who police say was high
on synthetic marijuana, ranting and smashing a hole in a wooden fence with his fist before
being pepper sprayed and wrestled to the ground by a group of officers.

Confiscated synthetic drugs are on display at a news conference at the DEA offices in the US related to the drug "Spice". Photo: AP Photo/Ed Andrieski

In another video a man, also unclothed, crouched in the middle of a street, delirious, screaming at the ground.
Between April 1 and July 31, more than 1,900 people were admitted to hospitals in New York State after taking the substance, the NYPD said.
One man high on the drug used his hands to stop an electric saw being used by police to open a door, Bratton said, leaving him covered in blood.

Police are building a picture of how the substance is sold and who is using.Raids on corner
stores and other outlets, which have been illegally selling synthetic marijuana in packages
for $2 to $5, have helped slow use.
Police in New York and elsewhere have been issued with information about the drug and
how to deal with users, including calling for extra backup.