Omaha World-Herald: Recent spikes in emergency room visits, doctor visits and calls to poison

Omaha World-Herald: Recent spikes in emergency room visits, doctor visits and calls to poison control centers tell the dangerous story of synthetic marijuana.

They show the continued growth of young people smoking or ingesting man-made pot that’s designed to skirt drug laws.

Of the illicit drugs that young Americans use, only real marijuana is used more often, the National Institutes of Health reports.

Last year, U.S. poison control centers logged 3,680 reports of synthetic pot use, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. That was up nearly 1,000 cases from 2013. And reports from the first four months this year are outpacing the 2014 tally by 661.

State and federal lawmakers, meanwhile, face a struggle to exert control over the compounds, which the so-called “spice” companies constantly re-engineer to stay one step ahead of statutes.

Legislatures in Nebraska and Iowa periodically update state laws to keep up with new ways synthetic pot is made, but it’s difficult. But the importance of approving at least Legislative Bill 326’s update to the legal definitions of synthetic pot is clear.

In Lincoln, authorities in recent weeks reported treating more than 100 people for medical emergencies tied to “spice.” One user suffered a heart attack.

Misunderstandings persist that synthetic marijuana is somehow natural and harmless. The medical community’s experience says otherwise.