Over the weekend, 15 people arrived in New York’s emergency rooms with suspected severe reactions to fake weed blends with stupid names like “K2, Spice, Green Giant, Geeked Up, Caution, Smacked, Wicked X, AK-47” and god knows what else. The New York Health Department even issued a warning yesterday, noting the 220% increase in synthetic cannabinoid-related ER visits since the beginning of 2014.
Fake weed is stupid. It’s a risky, dangerous alternative for a substance with a stellar safety record. You don’t know what kind of shit is mixed in there, which can include designer opioids, powerful benzodiazepines, or even bath salts.
Just stop it. The rest of the country is moving on. The New York Times has endorsed cannabis, and even the Brooklyn DA thinks there’s no “public safety benefit” to our War on Drugs. “Fake weed” is not worth the risk of vomiting, hallucinations, seizures, and heart failure.
