The number of telephone calls to U.S. poison centers reporting adverse health effects or concerns about possible adverse health effects related to synthetic cannabinoid use soared 330% from 349 in January 2015 to 1,501 in April 2015, newly published data from the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention show.
Between January and May 2015, poison centers reported 3,572 calls related to synthetic cannabinoid use, a 229% increase from the 1,085 calls during the same January-May period in 2014. The number of calls spiked notably in mid-April before decreasing nearly to 2014 levels by the end of May, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
DEA
Synthetic marijuana is sold under a variety of names (such as K2, spice, or black mamba), but since manufacturers frequently change the formulation to avoid detection and regulation, chemical formulas can vary wildly, even within similar strains. The most commonly reported adverse health effects were agitation (1,262 [35.3%]), tachycardia (1,035 [29.0%]), drowsiness or lethargy (939 [26.3%]), vomiting (585 [16.4%]), and confusion (506, [14.2%]). Most of the reported use was intentional (3,310 [92.7%]) (MMWR 2015;64:618-9).
The report said that most of the calls involved males (2,882 [80.7%]), and “where age of the user was recorded, the median age was 26 years.”
“Recent outbreaks suggest a need for greater public health surveillance and awareness, targeted public health messaging, and enhanced efforts to remove these products from the market,” wrote the authors, led by Royal K. Law of the CDC.