Synthetic marijuana calls flood poison control centers

A product marketed as an herbal supplement that produces a marijuana-like high has led to a significant spike in calls to U.S. poison control centers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday.

Reports of adverse events like rapid heart rate, vomiting and confusion associated with synthetic cannabinoids increased 229% over the past year, with the biggest surge to date seen in April.

The products show up in retail outlets under a variety of names, including synthetic marijuana, spice, K2, black mamba and crazy clown. “Even though they are marketed as natural, harmless and non-addictive, that is certainly not the case,” said CDC epidemiologist Royal Law, lead author on the report. “If you have these products, you need to throw them away,” he urged.

The CDC issued the warning after reviewing an uptick in calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System.

There have already been 3,822 calls reported nationwide as of June 10, surpassing the annual total of 3,682 reported in 2014, according to the most recent data from the AAPCC. In April alone, poison control centers logged 1,512 calls, a 330% increase from the 358 received in January of this year and the highest amount of calls in one month reported to date.

A total of 15 deaths were reported as of May, according to the CDC report. Of more than 2,900 calls for which a medical outcome was reported, 11% experienced a major adverse event, like seizure, respiratory depression or physical disfigurement. The most common adverse events were agitation, rapid heart rates, drowsiness, lethargy, vomiting and confusion.

CDC's Law noted that poison control is not the central reporting center for hospitals in all states and many synthetic-cannabinoid-associated issues could remain unreported. The federal agency calls the problem an emerging public health threat, and is working with several states to investigate the causes of the uptick.