Fake Pot Plagues Illinois With Outbreak of Bleeding, Deaths

It’s a cheap high that’s easy to obtain, available online or at some convenience stores and popular with teenagers and the hardcore homeless. Sold as an alternative to marijuana, its active ingredients are man-made, but the product can be tweaked to remain in a gray area of narcotics laws.

This week in Illinois, however, authorities said a third person had died after using synthetic cannabinoids, more commonly known as synthetic marijuana or fake weed. The death marked the latest fatal casualty in a rash of illnesses so large that public health officials are sounding a red alert.