Fake marijuana, it is likely contaminated with rat poison killed three people in Illinois and caused a lot of bleeding in more than 100 others, including several in the four other States.
The Federal centers for control and disease prevention has warned doctors across the country, patients with severe, unexplained bleeding can be other cases.
The CDC is helping to power Illinois to investigate the outbreak in this country, which began in early March. Illinois reported seven more cases on Tuesday, in a nationwide total of at least 116.
Some patients and so-called synthetic marijuana from Illinois, tested positive for the deadly ingredient often used in rat poison, the CDC and the authorities of Illinois, said.
Symptoms include coughing up blood, blood in the urine, heavy nosebleeds, bleeding gums and internal bleeding. Prevention CDC says outside Illinois, trauma centers in Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin and Maryland to treat patients since March 10.
Illnesses were linked to fake marijuana before, but this is the first outbreak associated with contamination of rat poison, said the CDC Renee funk. Those sickened require hospitalization and treatment with vitamin K to stop the bleeding, she said.
“This is an unusual outbreak,” funk said Tuesday, adding that it is unclear how the contamination occurred.
Fake marijuana, also known as synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic chemicals that produce high similar to marijuana. It is sold in stores, smoke shops and other like liquids which can be used in electronic cigarette or dried plant material, which can be smoked. Nicknames include K2, spice, and Kush.
“The number of cases continues to grow every day,” Melaney Arnold, a spokesman of the Department of health of Illinois, said Tuesday. “Synthetic cannabinoids in General are not safe, and this is one example, not knowing that the chemicals in the product. We say that people don’t use synthetic cannabinoids”.
The Federal government and many States have banned some of these products or specific ingredients, but the CDC says manufacturers skirt these laws by creating new products or labeling them “not for human consumption.”
Tests on the fake pot I bought in a Chicago shop of secret agents discovered the poison ingredient rat, the Prosecutor’s office, said in a press release. He was arrested three employees of the store and charged with Federal drug charges.
Diseases of the fake marijuana has increased in recent years, the CDC report notes at least 456 cases in the period between 2010 and 2015. Products 100 times more potent than the active ingredient in marijuana and severe reactions include seizures, coma, and delirium.
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Follow AP medical writer Lindsey Tanner on Twitter at @LindseyTanner. Her work can be found here .
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Sourse: abcnews.go.com
