Four homeless adults remained hospitalized Friday after they were found unresponsive at a makeshift camp in Glen Burnie, Maryland, as a result of ingesting synthetic marijuana, or “spice,” local police said.
Anne Arundel County police officers said they responded Thursday afternoon to a wooded area near Route 648 (Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard) and Route 10 for a report of an overdose, called in by a witness.
Three men were taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center: a 57-year-old man who is listed in stable condition and expected to recover; a 52-year-old man in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit; and a 38-year-old man who is in the ICU but is expected to survive, police said Friday.
The fourth person, a 45-year-old woman, was taken to Harbor Hospital where she is in critical but stable condition.
Police described all of the victims as homeless and said they stay in shelters or in homeless camps.
Synthetic Cannabinoids, or synthetic marijuana, are also known by the street names “spice,” “kush,” “K2” and “Scooby Snax.” They are banned in Maryland.
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Police say they discourage people from smoking or ingesting them because they are dangerous products.
“The Criminal Investigations Division Narcotics and Special Investigations Section assisted with the investigation and identified the location where this ’spice’ was sold as Yours Mart located at 7621 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., Glen Burnie. Detectives worked with the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office and obtained a search and seizure warrant for the business,” police said in a statement.
“Detectives executed the search warrant, located then seized 26 bottles of ’Bizzaro’ liquid spice and 11 packages of ’Scooby Snax.’ Five of the 11 packages of ’Scooby Snax’ are limited edition kush flavored. The kush flavored ’Scooby Snax’ match the packet of ’Scooby Snax’ located at the scene where the overdoses occurred,” police said.
The “spice” products from the homeless camp and from the store were taken to the Drug Enforcement Agency for lab testing, although it may be months for the results, police said.
Charges are pending the lab results.
• Maria Stainer can be reached at mstainer@washingtontimes.com.
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