Fake weed is often treated the same as real weed, even when it comes to laying down the law over the stuff. But it’s called “fake” for a reason. It’s really just a chemical related to THC — the chemical that gets you high, thrown into some sort of chemical cocktail and sprayed on some grass, then sold as weed. And in the Chicago area, some users are learning the hard way there’s not any quality control, as they’ve found themselves bleeding. Out. Of. Their. Eyes.
Needless to say, “your eyes might start bleeding” isn’t a usual symptom of fake weed. But, according to the Chicago Tribune, at least 22 people have gone to the hospital after using the fake stuff with some terrifying symptoms:
The health department said Thursday that symptoms have included bleeding from the eyes and ears. On Friday, officials clarified that while this can happen, those affected in Illinois have reported other symptoms, like coughing up blood, blood in urine, bloody noses, bleeding gums and, for women, heavier than usual menstrual flow.
Despite this being the start of a dozen direct-to-video zombie movies, fortunately, nobody has died yet. At the same time, nobody knows why this reaction is happening in the first place. The best doctors have is that the factory that made this stuff accidentally put an anticoagulant into the mix, or have stumbled over a mix of chemicals they didn’t realize had these bleed-from-random-orifices effects. This stuff isn’t tracked well, either, so there might be a giant pile of eye-bleed fake weed sitting in gas stations across Illinois, or this might be limited to a handful of people. Fortunately, the good people of Illinois might soon be able to get access to the real stuff; a vote held in Cook County was heavily for legalizing recreational marijuana and an advisory vote will be on the ballot in November across the state.
Considering the alternative we’re seeing, even the non-smokers are probably going to vote yes.
(via LiveScience)
