Possible overdose death from synthetic marijuana under investigation

A preliminary report has found that a Minnehaha County resident died from an overdose of synthetic marijuana.

County Coroner Dr. Kenneth Snell said in an interview this week that the product, a 100 percent chemical compound, caused a fatal cardiac reaction.

“It's something we haven’t seen in years,” he said, adding that it wasn't even listed as a possible cause of an overdose in toxicology testing panels any longer.

Contributed

A research lab investigated the case from a February death and determined after a study that took about two months that the synthetic marijauna product indeed was the cause.

Snell said he works with law enforcement and that they could possibly issue a danger warning about the product he referred to as K2 or Spice that can be found in some businesses or on the street.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says there are hundreds of synthetic cannabanoids being sold in convenience stores, head shops and online purporting to be legal alternatives to marijuana.

Contributed / DEA

"K2 and Spice are just two of the many trade names or brands for synthetic designer drugs that are intended to mimic THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. These designer synthetic drugs are from the synthetic cannabinoid class of drugs that are often marketed and sold under the guise of 'herbal incense' or 'potpourri.'" according to a DEA fact sheet.

K2 is manufactured as a powder predominantly in Asia and shipped into the U.S. under false labeling. Typically, it is mixed with plant materials and smoked in the same manner as marijuana. It can also be used as potpourri or vaped, according to the DEA.

Snell said that it's possible that the drugs are making a comeback even though their availability may have disappeared for a time. “There is a risk of sudden death,” the coroner said about the product.

Story continues below fact sheet.

Snell said he has never heard of an overdose death from the plant species of marijuana.

There have been some cases where a large amount of edible marijuana gummies, however, have gotten into the hands of children who have died from an overdose.

Snell first brought up the synthetic marijuana issue at a County Commission meeting in early April when he gave his annual report.

In that report, he said the most overdose deaths last year in the county were from methamphetamine.

The number jumped from four in 2023 to 11 last year.

He said in the interview this week that meth overdose deaths also come from cardiac reactions with “abnormal rhythms in the heart” to the drug which is also chemically based.

He added that fentanyl, which has attracted attention nationwide, is also a chemical compound.

Naloxone, an emergency treatment to save lives in the event of an fentanyl overdose, doesn't work for meth, he said.

Contributed / DEA

In his annual report, Snell said the other drug deaths last year on the top of the list were seven from fentanyl and also seven listed in an “other” category which is from other drugs such as cocaine, drug combinations or prescriptions.

In all there were 28 drug overdose deaths last year in the county up from 25 in 2023.

He said it was a fairly quiet start to this year, but that there was a spike in April in the county although with the low numbers early in the year the overdose deaths could go back to levels seen in the early and mid 2010s when most years there were less than 20 such overdose deaths and even as low as 10 in 2012.

However, he said things can change quickly. As an example, he said in the interview that in Lincoln County in the first three months drug overdose deaths were on a “record pace.”

In the annual report, Snell also listed other causes of deaths that his office investigated in the past year. They included:

• Fentanyl deaths have been staying steady in the past five years with those seven reported last year, up just one from the year before.
• There were two deaths from opiates, the same as in 2023 and they have been consistently low for many years.
• No heroin deaths have been reported since 2018.
• There were 13 people killed in traffic accidents last year, which was the next highest number of accidental deaths in the county.
• Snell said 50 percent of cases he accepts turn out to be natural deaths, while 38 percent are accidental and 9 percent are suicide.
• There were 34 deaths by suicide reported last year, down slightly from 37 in 2023. Most are from gunshot wounds, although hanging and drug toxicity are other factors. He said the month with the most suicides last year was February at six, but with five cases reported in each of April, July and December.
• Total cases reported to his office were up 12 percent to 689 last year, with 559 accepted for examinations which was a 5.3 percent increase. Of those, 95 autopsies were done, which was an 11.4 percent increase.
• The coroner said there were only two infant deaths last year, one due to an unsafe sleep environment and another to meningitis. One fetus was recovered from a recycling center.