
A dangerous new synthetic drug sickened dozens of people on the streets of Skid Row, Los Angeles.
Almost 50 people had been hospitalized in Los Angeles after a bad quality synthetic drug hit the streets of Skid Row.
Paramedics and firefighters had to evaluate multiple individuals with drug-induced symptoms. The service started on Friday around 1 PM and lasted until 8 PM. Until midnight, around 47 people had been treated and evaluated.
The police believe that all the people that got sick had been consuming a drug that came from a new batch of a synthetic substance. This may explain the large numbers of calls in a limited timeframe.
Moreover, 18 people needed hospitalization. Most of them were homeless. The drug is a derivate of Spice, and it’s very cheap, so much, so people seem to be ready to risk their health to obtain it.
The substance is stronger than Spice, and it consists of synthetic marijuana mixed with other psychoactive chemicals which can cause psychotic episodes.
The street drugs are sold under the names of Scooby Snax, Paradise, K2, or Black Magic, and it contains plants and herbs sprayed with chemicals to simulate the effect of THC.
The first patients reaching the hospitals under the influence of the street drug appeared five years ago.
The Los Angeles Fire Department says that the Skid Row situation is very worrying because street drugs are very dangerous. At any given moment, someone could think of changing the product and adding new substances that may hurt people in uncountable ways.
The reverend from the Union Rescue Mission explains that drug dealers take advantage of the people who want to escape from the violence in the street and sell them the cheap drug.
The substance can make people appear like zombies, with slow movements and inability to focus. The drug burns the nostrils, and it’s almost 100 times more potent than the classic Spice.
The symptoms include an accelerated heart rate and excessive sweating, and the condition can eventually cause the death of the person that consumed it. Other people can experience vomiting, slurred speech and poor muscular coordination.
A similar incident took place earlier in April in the same area when ten people had been intoxicated by an unknown substance. The officers believe it was also a drug that caused the incident, but no one managed to determine what caused the condition and who spread the chemical.
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