Eight East Austin K2 Users Require Medical Attention In One Night

EAST AUSTIN, TX — The scourge of K2 continues to take its toll in Austin with eight people needing medical treatment after ingesting the potent synthetic marijuana on Sunday night.

Austin-Travis County EMS officials provided the grim play-by-play via Twitter Sunday night, beginning at around 9 p.m. Six patients were treated at 500 E. 7th St., five of them requiring hospitalization. Just a few minutes after that update, medics said another two patients were treated, one taken to a hospital and one refusing transport for further evaluation.

"This is not marijuana," EMS officials, usually updating on Twitter with dry data and scant details, wrote. "This is a toxin."

K2 is a particularly insidious poison, said to mimic the effects of marijuana but exponentially stronger. This synthetic form is made with a mixture of industrial chemicals meant to mimic THC, the naturally occurring active compound found in marijuana.

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse: "The chemicals are sprayed on bits of dried plant material, packaged in colorful wrappers, nicknamed 'poison packets,' and sold under the guise of potpourri and herbal incense in local convenience stores, smoke shops and even online."

The use of K2 can lead to side affects that include agitation, hallucinations, rapid heart rate, vomiting, Despite its dangers, cities across the country have experienced spikes in its use — not just Austin.

But locally, the incidents of overdose can be taxing for emergency officials. Having learned lessons from the past — notably last year when dozens of people were felled by the drug — medics mobilized at the location with five ambulances assigned. Homeless people often are lured to the drug given its low price on the black market.

Once it hits the streets with each new delivery, medics already typically busy are stretched to the limit in treating new patients after what usually turns out to be en masse ingestion of the poison. Last August, 69 people had to be treated after the drug made its horrid rounds.

The five ambulances mobilized on 7th Street on Sunday converged on 7th Street quickly between 8:50 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. In past years, K2 overdose cases were sporadic, but now they seem a regular occurrence as the drug gains popularity locally.

Related stories: K2 Victim Count Reaches 69 People In Austin Requiring Medical Attention

Austin Police Arrest Couple Accused Of Distributing K2 Drug Throughout City

K2 is banned in the U.S. "Then why is it still so readily available?" National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse officials ask. "A critical piece of the puzzle is that chemists are constantly tweaking the molecular makeup of the drug to create new compounds and avoid regulation. With the chemical makeup of these drugs constantly changing, law enforcement agencies are unable to keep up."

That seems to be the case in Austin, where the scourge has bedeviled law enforcement officials. Medics transported those affected to University Medical Center Brackenridge, no doubt with hopes that's the last of the addicts and the drug won't rear its ugly head again — however unlikely those fervent wishes might be.

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