Almost 80 overdose on synthetic pot in park near Yale: police

Seventy-six people overdosed on synthetic marijuana, called K2, in a park across from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., on Wednesday, authorities said.

Paramedics and police were stationed at the New Haven Green all day as more and more people showed signs of overdosing, according to WABC-TV in New York, which added that some users fell unconscious while others vomited.

“We literally had people running around the Green providing treatment,” New Haven’s emergency operations director, Rick Fontana, said, according to the TV station.

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New Haven’s fire chief, meanwhile, reportedly said that the K2 may have been laced with other substances and that those being treated will have their blood tested to determine precisely what led to the overdoses.

Fontana added that a commonly used anti-opioid-overdose drug did not seem to help when given in the park, although benefits were seen when it was given in a higher dose in the hospital.

“Do not come down to the Green and purchase this K2,” New Haven Police Chief Anthony Campbell warned, according to WABC-TV. “It is taking people out very quickly, people having respiratory failure. Don’t put your life in harm.”

Police reportedly made one arrest Wednesday, though the charges were not clear. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that fatal drug overdoses set a record in 2017, with more than 72,000 deaths.