MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) – Wisconsin has confirmed the state’s first death linked to the use of synthetic marijuana.
The Department of Health Services says the death happened in Milwaukee County. No other details were released.
“This confirmed death is exactly what we feared, and I am personally asking retailers, for the safety of your community – stop selling these dangerous synthetic cannabinoids and pull them off your shelves immediately,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Schimel. “We cannot allow Wisconsinites, particularly our young people, to be harmed by potentially dangerous drugs, whether they are being peddled by on the streets or sold by the person standing behind the counter of a convenience store.”
Synthetic marijuana is also known as fake weed.
Some of the fake weed has been tainted with rat poison. That’s causing severe internal bleeding for people who use it.
The victims are essentially bleeding to death.
There have been 45 bleeding cases in Wisconsin since March of this year.
Confirmed cases were reported in Dane, Milwaukee, Outagamie and Rock Counties.
“We are continuing to work with local health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Poison Control Center, and other partners to try to identify common products or sources,” said State Health Officer Karen McKeown.
Action 2 News reported earlier this week about a rise in hospitalizations from the use of fake weed.
“What it does quite literally is stop you from being able to clot anywhere. You can’t form any clots and so you just bleed through every pore basically. That’s how they kill rats with it,” said Dr. Daniel Gale, Emergency Medicine Physician with Baycare Clinic.
There have been several deaths linked to fake weed in Illinois.
Fake weed is illegal in Wisconsin.
The state strongly urges people not use it.
If you or someone you know is suffering from bleeding, take them to the emergency room.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice says synthetic marijuana goes by the following names:
• Black Mamba
• Bling Blang Monkey
• Bombay Blue
• Climax
• Cloud 9
• Fake Weed
• Genie
• Joker
• K2
• Kisha Cole
• Legal Weed
• Matrix
• OMG
• Phantom
• Red, Blue, or Yellow Giant
• Releaf
• Scooby Snax
• Spice
• Wet Lucy
• White Tiger
• Zohai
Credit: www.wbay.com
