Effects of K2, Spice difficult to treat

DEKALB CO., Ind. (WANE) - DeKalb County medics are finding it difficult to treat people that have side effects of synthetic marijuana, such as K2 or Spice.

DeKalb Health EMS Director, Randy Fox, said it can be harder to treat someone who has taken these drugs as most people do not know what is actually in the drugs.  

Officials say some synthetic drugs can contain up to as much as 400 different chemical compounds.

“Most people don't know what they're taking," he said. "They don't know the strength, they don't know anything about it, they just take it."

Fox said when medics arrive, most of the time, people don’t understand what has happened to them.

“From an EMS stand point, we have to treat systematically because we really don't know if we're treating for a particular disease or medication overdose,” said Fox.

Butler Police Chief James Nichols said he has seen the bizarre effects of synthetic drugs up close.

“This last winter, where an individual walked 20 degrees weather to his mother's house with no clothes on and when we got there, he was having seizures," said Chief Nichols.

Seizures are just one of the many results that can be caused from smoking K2. Chief Nichols said “[a] lot of times, majority of the time, with the respiratory problems, they can't breathe, panic attacks, they're having an increased heart rate.”

Fox has spent the last couple years educating himself and his EMS staff on the effects of synthetic marijuana but said each case is unique as people have different reactions to the many chemicals.

Fox said his staff will continue to stay educated on the drugs in order to have an understanding on how to treat each unique case.