Over 2 dozen people rushed to hospital after taking synthetic weed

Over two dozen people had a bad reaction to synthetic pot on one street corner.

May 20, 2018, 5:37 AM

More than two dozen people at the same street corner had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana in Brooklyn on Saturday night.

Police sources told New York ABC station WABC that officers reported to a street corner in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn after receiving multiple calls for bad reactions to the drug. The sources said at least 25 people were taken to the hospital to be treated for adverse symptoms.

Officials told WABC none of the patients are in life-threatening condition.

The drug, often labeled synthetic marijuana, doesn't include any actual cannabis.

PHOTO: A man prepares to smoke K2 or "Spice", a synthetic marijuana drug, in East Harlem, Aug. 5, 2015 in New York City.
A man prepares to smoke K2 or "Spice", a synthetic marijuana drug, in East Harlem, Aug. 5, 2015 in New York City.

Synthetic weed, also called K2 or spice, is dried plant material sprayed with chemicals, which can be smoked or sold in liquid-form to be inhaled with a vaporizer. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, effects can be "unpredictable and, in some cases, more dangerous or even life-threatening."

The overdoses on Saturday occurred at the intersection of Broadway and Myrtle Avenue under the J, Z subway tracks. The location is well-known by authorities.

In July 2016, at least 33 people had serious adverse reactions to synthetic weed in one day at the exact same corner, and over 100 were taken to the emergency room from July 11 to July 13, 2016, according to the National Institute of Health.

The NIH released warnings in four states -- Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland and Illinois -- over dangerous synthetic marijuana in early April. Illinois especially was hit with a number of problems due to the drug. Three people died and over 100 people were hospitalized in Illinois in April, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.