XPost: chi.general, alt.politics.obama, sac.politics
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From: leroysoetoro@hrc-rejected.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-update-synthetic-outbreak- investigation-20180402-story.html

State health officials have now linked two deaths and dozens of illnesses
to synthetic marijuana known as K2, while authorities on Monday said they
found a large amount of synthetic pot laced with a toxic substance often
used in rat poison being sold at a West Side convenience store.

Fouad Masoud, owner of King Mini Mart at 1303 S. Kedzie Ave. in Lawndale,
and two of his employees, Jamil Abdelrahman Jad Allah and Adil Khan
Mohammed, could face 20 years in prison after an undercover officer bought
K2 branded with names that included “Blue Giant,” “Crazy Monkey” and
“Matrix” from the workers, according to a federal complaint.

The investigation leading to the arrests began last week after Illinois
State Police gave Chicago police information about someone who had
experienced adverse side effects after using synthetic pot purchased at
King Mini Mart. An undercover officer was sent into the store and bought synthetic pot.

After the undercover buy, the CPD’s Vice Control License Section Unit
conducted a search of the store with the two employees behind the counter,
and officers found several packages of K2 on Jad Allah and 1,920 grams of
the substance in a bucket behind the store.

Tests on the synthetic pot seized from the mini mart determined it
contained toxic brodifacoum, a poison used in rodent control, the
complaint said. In the recent outbreak associated with synthetic pot, nine people tested positive for brodifacoum, officials said.

Jad Allah, 44, of Justice, and Mohammed, 44, of Chicago, were arrested
Sunday. That evening, an unnamed witness told Masoud about Jad Allah’s
arrest, according to the complaint. Shortly after, police on a stake out
at Masoud’s townhouse saw him leaving with a large grocery bag with
$280,000 inside, according to the complaint. Masoud, 48, also was
arrested. Police searched his home and recovered 2,900 grams of suspected synthetic cannabis labeled “Purple Giant,” the complaint said.

State and local health officials issued a warning last week about a new
symptom of synthetic pot — excessive bleeding from the eyes and ears.
Those symptoms are associated with brodifacoum.

Over the weekend, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that
one person had died after using synthetic pot. On Monday, the state agency announced that a second person had died. Both victims were men in their
20s, the agency said.

Of those sickened, nearly half were in the Peoria area, and more than 20
were in the Chicago area. Generally, those who became ill after using the
drug were hospitalized for internal bleeding as well as blood coming from
the ears, eyes and mouth.

The Peoria County coroner’s office was still investigating the death of a 22-year-old man who died Thursday morning and was being counted by the
state health department as one of the fatalities in the outbreak. The
cause and manner of the man’s death were pending results from toxicology
tests that could take 20 to 30 days to complete, said Jamie Harwood, the
Peoria County coroner.

The man reportedly had used K2 before he was hospitalized for severe
internal bleeding, Harwood said.

The second death that could be linked to the outbreak is being
investigated by officials in west suburban Kane County. Other than the
victim being a man in his 20s, information about the death was not
immediately available.

In total, 56 people have been hospitalized in Illinois since March 10, according to the state health department.

Of that total, 17 people have been hospitalized in Chicago and five others elsewhere in Cook County, according to the health department. At least 14 people have been hospitalized in Peoria County. In adjoining Tazewell
County, 12 people have been hospitalized, state officials said.

Synthetic cannabinoid is a manmade mixture of hundreds of chemicals that
affect the same brain cell receptors as the active ingredient in
marijuana. The substance can be sprayed on a plant material so it can be smoked, or it can be sold as a liquid form to be used in e-cigarettes or
other similar devices, according to the health department.

Exposure to the brodifacoum causes the human body to block its natural use
of vitamin K, which helps in the process of blood clotting, said Dr.
Patrick Lank, a medical toxicologist who works at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. A person who has been exposed to brodifacoum would have to take
high doses of vitamin K for weeks to months to manage their symptoms.

The health department sent a memo to pharmacists advising them to stress
to patients that over-the-counter vitamin K supplements were not potent
enough to treat this condition.

Tazewell County hasn’t yet had any reported deaths tied to the outbreak,
said Brian Foley, the county coroner. “I do expect that to change,” he
said. “It’s the nature of the beast.”

In Indiana, at least two people were hospitalized for severe bleeding
after using synthetic pot, according to the Indiana State Department of
Health. Officials there would not specify where the cases took place but
said none had involved minors.

Missouri and Wisconsin have not had reports of synthetic pot users being hospitalized for severe bleeding.

Anyone experiencing a reaction to a synthetic cannabinoid product is urged
to call 911 or to seek immediate medical treatment.

A federal judge on Monday ordered Masoud to be held until a detention
hearing Thursday. Jad Allah and Mohammed will go before the judge Tuesday.

emalagon@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ElviaMalagon


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