Saturday, August 4, 2012

Synthetic Marijuana

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Like countless other col­lege basketball players, Lamar Jack couldn't wait for the 2012 season to begin.The redshirt freshman forward was working out with his Anderson (S.C.) University teammates last September, going through preseason conditioning drills, when something went terribly wrong.
After complaining of cramps and blurred vision, Jack collapsed. He was rushed to the emergency room, where his body tem­perature was extremely el­evated.
Four days later, he died at the age of 19.
After an autopsy, Ander­son County coroner Greg Shore told the Anderson In­dependent Mail that Jack's death was the result of "acute drug toxicity (that) led to multiple organ failure."
Toxicology tests revealed that Jack had ingested the chemical JWH-018, which is used to make synthetic marijuana.

For more on this story by Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News, click here.