Florida Teen Hospitalized After Smoking Synthetic Marijuana

Jan 05, 2011

When police summoned Nancy Ferreira to the emergency room on New Year's Eve, she saw her 14-year-old son having a seizure and struggling to breathe. "He had 10 seizures in total and his blood pressure was extremely high," Ferreira said. "He didn't know I was there."

Ferreira's two sons had been smoking "Mr. Nice Guy herbal smoke blend," a brand of incense labeled "not for human consumption," according to police. Mr. Nice Guy appears similar to products with brand names like Spice, Black Mamba, and K2. The teens told police officers that a friend bought Mr. Nice Guy for them and that they had smoked it before "because it's not illegal," according to a police report. The federal government says these products may contain synthetic cannabinoids developed for medical research. They are not FDA-approved for human consumption. "Retailers say there is nothing on the package to say what it is, and that's the point," DEA spokeswoman Barbara Carreno said. "They're being advertised as more potent than marijuana, and marijuana can cause heart palpitations. There is concern whether this is actually even synthetic marijuana." In November, DEA announced it may categorize five synthetic cannabinoids as illegal drugs and take them off the legal market while government researchers investigate the products' effects on humans.

Ferreria says she has talked with a special agent at DEA and supports the proposed restrictions. "I want to shut them down," she said about the manufacturers. "In my book, they're no better than the crack dealer on the corner."