Fake Pot Sickens More People In Illinois: Health Officials

More cases of people suffering severe bleeding after using synthetic marijuana possibly laced with rat poison have been reported in Illinois, according to state health officials. The majority of the new cases have involved Winnebago County residents, with some reports coming from Wisconsin, the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a statement Monday.

While the state health agency didn't give an exact number of new reports, Winnebago County officials told the Chicago Tribune that fewer than five cases over the past two weeks were suspected to involve synthetic cannabinoids, which also is known as Spice, K2 or simply fake weed. In some of those cases, the individuals were taken to the hospital and treated, the report added.

Illinois health officials have been tracking this outbreak of sickness linked to synthetic pot since early March. By the end of May, 164 people in 15 counties — all but 30 cases happened outside of the Chicago, Peoria or Cook County areas — had reported severe bleeding caused by fake weed that tested positive for brodifacoum, a blood thinner found in rat poison, according to the IDPH. Four deaths also have been reported during that time span.

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“We don’t know if this is a new batch of drugs or product that has been held back from when we began seeing cases at the end of March, but it reiterates the importance of staying away from synthetic cannabinoids," Dr. Nirav D. Shah, the state agency's director, said in a statement concerning the latest reports.

One of the challenges of trying to track cases during this outbreak is that unlike with diseases, such as West Nile virus or measles, there is no requirement to report adverse reactions from illicit drug use to public health officials. Because of that, there might be even more unreported cases of health issues linked to synthetic pot.

Specific symptoms reported by people sickened during this outbreak include coughing up blood, blood in the urine, a severe bloody nose, bleeding gums and internal bleeding. Anyone using synthetic marijuana and suffering those symptoms should call 911 or be taken to a hospital emergency room.

Go to the Illinois Department of Public Health's website for more details about synthetic cannabinoids.

Synthetic cannabinoids, also known as synthetic marijuana, K2, Spice or fake weed (Photo via Shutterstock)