Officials: 17 treated after overdosing on K2 synthetic... | www.statesman.com
MS officials have treated two more people who suffered from seizures brought on by smoking a synthetic marijuana commonly known as “K2.”
As of 3 p.m., Austin-Travis County EMS had treated 17 people in the past 55 hours for health issues related to the use of the drug. Some had seizures while others lost consciousness. Many became disoriented, and EMS said some became violent.
All incidents have been centralized around Downtown Austin. The most recent incident occurred at 8:35 a.m. Friday on East Seventh Street near San Jacinto Boulevard, EMS and police said.
Austin police said they increased patrols in the downtown area and announced that they had made narcotics arrests in Downtown Austin that caused a disruption to the sale of K2 there. Officers arrested several people on drug possession charges and warrants, many of whom were in possession of suspected synthetic marijuana, officials said. Those suspects were not identified Friday, and the suspected drugs were being tested, police said.
Police had not identified a specific brand of the drug, which is sold under various brand names.
EMS saw people showing symptoms of an altered mental state, including hallucinations, delusions and aggressive behavior. Investigators believe that the K2 involved was possibly laced with another drug. Austin-Travis County EMS Commander Mike Benavides said that could be a lethal combination.
“In an of itself, K2 can produce those symptoms, but mixed with other substances it can intensify and magnify those effects that leads to the overdose scenario,” Benavides said
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