Illinois Dispensary Warns Public Against Synthetic Marijuana

HCI Alternatives has started warning its patients about the dangers of using synthetic marijuana (K2 and Spice). Synthetic products aren’t regulated. They aren’t tested.

The dispensary urges all of its patients to read the packaging carefully if they are not purchasing from a licensed dispensary to ensure that they are not purchasing the synthetic product, according to WAND 17 News. Some synthetic products are sold as e-juices for e-cigarettes. Other products are sold to mimic marijuana but is just dried plant material with synthetic cannabinoids (chemicals) sprayed onto them.

The dispensary says that some retailers market the product as liquid or herbal incense, which is misleading. Some batches have contained rat poison, which can have fatal consequences. There have been three confirmed deaths in Illinois attributed to K2 and/or Spice, with more than 100 additional reports of illness from using the fake drug.

Synthetic cannabinoids aren’t yet illegal in Illinois, but the state is working on changing laws to prohibit the substances.

Scott Abbott of HCI Alternatives says, “Synthetic – it’s not cannabis. It’s some type of dried plant material that they’ve sprayed cannabinoids on that they’ve created from various chemicals, many of which have very harmful side effects like internal bleeding and a number of issues that can ultimately lead to death.”

HCI reminds its patients that they should not believe that the synthetic cannabinoids are a safer alternative to marijuana because that is false. The dispensary also suggest to its patients to notify the local police if they are aware of retailers of any kind offering the items for sale to help get the dangerous product off of the streets.