Synthetic marijuana, aka K2 first came on the market about 6 years ago. As reports of overdose from K2 began to come in, doctors and cannabis advocates lauded the substance as unpredictable and unsafe, and usage began to taper off.

Unfortunately K2 has made a comeback, as recent events in NYC and a new report from the CDC shows. In the past 5 years toxicologists in the US reported 456 cases where the user suffered severe physical and mental issues, after using K2.

Back in 2010 when synthetic marijuana became popular, the American College of Medical Toxicology instituted the ToxIC Case Registry. ToxIC was developed as a way to keep track of the toxicology cases, including those resulting from K2 usage.

ToxIC kept track of cases in 41 cities up until November of last year. There was a bump in cases from 1.5% to 3.5% between 2014 and 2015, researchers found. Those numbers might not seem very big, but you have to consider that this data only includes cases where a toxicology report was filed.

"We're talking only about cases where a medical toxicologist was brought in to consult. A person who simply comes into the ER -- we would never see those cases." In other words, only the most extreme cases of toxic overdose were recorded," said Dr. Jeffrey Brent one of the authors of the study.

No one has overdosed from smoking cannabis, and the plant has been shown to have many positive effects on health and general wellbeing. Synthetic marijuana is a cheap and dangerous imitation of the real thing. We don’t know exactly what chemicals are being used in K2; the chemical composition is always changing. This is how manufacturers are able to keep it legal. I smoked it a couple times and it always gave me a headache, which was not the head change I was looking for. Looking back, I’m lucky a headache was all I got. Stick to the real thing.

For more information, check out the original article here.
Featured Image Source: PotSouth.com
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Do you have any horror stories involving K2? Feel free to share in the comments.