The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office is cracking down on synthetic marijuana. Deputies raided a business on Glenwood Road suspected of selling the product on Monday.
Officials said an undercover deputy was able to buy the drugs several times at the gas station. Synthetic marijuana is a mix of plants and chemicals sold as potpourri and smoked like pot. It's said to be much stronger than real marijuana and is not detectable in a drug screening.
Poison control officials said the danger is that the substance is made of other additives and chemicals.
"Symptoms can range anywhere from nausea and vomiting to paranoia, delusions – there could be heart issues, heart palpitations, irregular rhythm changes and even seizure activity," said Georgia Poison Control director Gaylord Lopez. "There's so much junk that goes into this fake marijuana and these dorm room chemists are trying to figure out ways to skirt the law and in fact, what they're doing is endangering more lives. "
The DeKalb bust is part of an operation dubbed "Operation Knockout K-2," targeting local businesses that sell the drug.
"This is a place that's doing business in our community, was making a profit in our community, but at the same time that are causing harm in our community," said DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown.
Officials seized dozens of packets of the synthetic marijuana.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 10:48 PM EDT2013-05-22 02:48:00 GMT
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Officials raided a business in DeKalb County suspected of selling synthetic marijuana (photo by Kaitlyn Pratt/MyFoxAtlanta)
