Fake marijuana otherwise known as “K2” or “spice” has left two dead and at least 54 others hospitalized in Illinois, according the Illinois Department of Public Health Monday.
The numbers of those affected by the fake marijuana are reportedly increasing as officials noted that more and more people are being taken to the hospital with symptoms such as “coughing up blood, blood in the urine, severe bloody nose, and/or bleeding gums,” the health department said in a statement.
People have tested positive for rat poison and other poisonous chemicals after using the substance in nine of the incidents, the department also noted.
Other symptoms included bleeding from the eyes and ears. Also, women who are menstruating have reportedly experienced a higher than average flow.
“This bleeding is not expected, at least in such a significant population so quickly,” Dr. Melissa Millewich, an emergency room physician who has overseen many of these cases, told the Chicago Tribune.
In less than a month, 34 people have experienced symptoms as the state government continues to investigate where the products are obtained and where people are buying it.
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