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Synthetic Weed Overdose Hits Durham County And Beyond

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Late last month more than 50 people in Brooklyn were hospitalized after what law enforcement believes was exposure to synthetic marijuana. The issue hit closer to home this month after a story broke that a Durham County resident experienced severe bleeding presumably from the same thing.

Also called K2 or Spice, it comes in colorful, playful wrappers and for a while was available behind the counter at many local convenience stores. Unlike marijuana, this drug is synthetic and is often laced with rat poison and other unknown chemicals.

Jenny Wiley is a senior fellow in behavioral pharmacology at RTI International. Wiley joins host Frank Stasio to talk about her decades-long research into cannabinoids. Wiley details how this drug was invented, why it is dangerous and her belief that it should not be called marijuana.

Dana is an award-winning producer who began as a personality at Rock 92. Once she started creating content for morning shows, she developed a love for producing. Dana has written and produced for local and syndicated commercial radio for over a decade. WUNC is her debut into public radio and she’s excited to tell deeper, richer stories.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.