Sixteen people in San Diego, California were sickened due to a drug overdose from Spice, a synthetic marijuana drug. Mostly in their twenties, the patients suffered from various symptoms including fast heartbeats, nausea, difficulty in breathing and even unconsciousness.
Out of the 16 people, 11 patients were hospitalized and three suffered serious cases. Fortunately, there were no deaths reported and none of the documented cases were life-threatening, said fire spokesman Lee Swanson from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
This had been the second weekend where the same synthetic marijuana drug called Spice caused various overdoses in San Diego. One of the Spice overdosed patients were found near the vicinity of the San Diego Central Library. Another overdosed individual was discovered nearby, however, most of the patients were discovered at the trolley station at Imperial Street and 12th Avenue.
On Nov. 22, over a dozen people were also treated due to the same overdose that happened two weekends in a row. The first batch of overdosed patients included a 13-year-old. Some of the patients suffered from bloody noses and seizures. The police are currently tracing the source of the Spice drug.
"Very similar to last weekend. In some of the incidents, we were able to recover remnants of spice, the packaging and what appears to be a tobacco-like substance inside the packaging itself," said San Diego Police Department's Sergeant Arthur Scott.
Police officials said the Spice drug makers use sprayed chemicals on the synthetic marijuana drug to make users hallucinate. The Spice drug is not made from the leafy cannabis plant, and it has been illegal in California since 2012.
The hospitalized patients were found with Spice products whose packaging has a skull or blue dragon on the side. Police officials assume that the patients bought the products near Imperial and 12th. Officials also hypothesized that the buyers of the drug intend to overdose in nearby downtown streets.
Since 2012, California made selling synthetic cannabinoid compounds illegal under state law. Anyone who has information that may lead to the makers of the Spice drug is encouraged to call the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000.
