Synthetic Drug Use On The Rise

Edmond Police have a warning about the rise of synthetic drugs. The warning comes after three cases of synthetic drug use in the city within a two week period. Police say two people ended up in the hospital.

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics says dozens of new synthetic drugs are surfacing every few months and usually, state officials don't find out about the new ones until someone ends up hospitalized or dead.

"Number one, it can kill you, or if not, you can suffer some extreme medical problems," said Officer James Hamm of the Edmond Police Department.

"This stuff is really bad news," said Randy Badillo, Clinical Supervisor for Oklahoma's Poison Control Center. 

Synthetic drugs are chemically-created drugs that are made to mimic the effects of street drugs.

"It's dangerous stuff," said Badillo.

The Clinical Supervisor for Oklahoma's Poison Control Center, Randy Badillo says synthetic drugs can cause a variety of side effects.

"Seizures, maybe some heart dysrhythmia , paranoia, agitation," said Badillo. "They're also extremely dangerous to people who come in contact with them."

"I don't think people are understanding that this stuff is dangerous," said Officer Hamm.

Around two weeks ago, Edmond Police responded to a party where they say multiple people took some kind of synthetic drug.

"When our officers got there, they found one of the subjects, he was in the open field behind the apartment complex," said Officer Hamm.  "He was eating grass, he was trying to drink water out of the drainage ditch."

While police see more cases of synthetic drug use, Poison Control is getting more calls.

"The numbers dramatically are on the increase throughout the country," said Badillo.

In 2010, Poison Control Centers across the country received around 3,200 calls related to synthetic marijuana and bath salts. Last year, that number increased to more than 13,000 calls. Now Badillo is not sure what it will take to get that number back down.

"I don't know if we're ever going to stop or change it," said Badillo. "All we can do is help educate the public about how bad these things are."

A new state law takes effect on November first that will target synthetic drugs. The law will make Oklahoma's law similar to federal law.

MARISA MENDELSON
FOX 25 NEWS
MLMENDELSON@OKCFOX.COM
Synthetic Drug Use On The Rise

Posted: Friday, October 12 2012, 09:47 PM CDT