QUAD CITIES (KWQC) – Three people have died in Illinois after using synthetic cannabinoids, more commonly known as “synthetic marijuana” or “fake pot.”
Health officials say some of the products have been mixed with rat poison. The chemical poisons the blood and causes people to bleed out if they are not treated in time.
“You can have hemorrhage in the brain, you can have GI bleeding, bleeding from your nose,” explained Genesis Health Emergency Department Dr. Kathryn Dierks.
Since March 7, the Illinois Department of Public Health has recorded 114 people in 11 counties have suffered severe bleeding after synthetic cannabinoid use.
None of the counties in the Quad Cities area were listed. But 29 people in Peoria County have been seen which borders Knox County in the QCA.
Arrests have been made in Chicago and Peoria in connection to this outbreak. IDPH is still warning against using K2 or spice products.
That is why Dr. Dierks says it is important to know the warning signs of potential poisoning.
“If you're starting you smoke this, you mix it with your vaporized cigarettes, you start to notice that you're bruising easily, use the bathroom there's a little bit of blood in the toilet, you need to get to the emergency department immediately,” Dr. Dierks said.
She says there are a few ways to treat the poisoning. Blood transfusions are a last resort.
“We can actually give you vitamin k, we can give you fresh frozen plasma and we can give you some different medications that work a lot quicker to help reverse that to stop bleeding,” Dr. Dierks said.
The emergency physician urges the sooner someone can get to the hospital, the better shot they have at survival.
“There’s a point where we can save you," Dr. Dierks said. "If you wait too long, it may be too late."
There are state and federal laws which work to prohibit the sale of synthetic cannabinoids, but the problem is by slightly altering the chemical makeup products can legally end up back on shelves in convince stores and gas stations as well as online.
According to the IDPH synthetic cannabinoids may affect the brain much more powerfully than normal pot. Information states in some cases the synthetic product is more dangerous than normal marijuana and can be unpredictable and life-threatening.
