Utica convenience stores sells fake pot tainted with other drugs, including opioids

A Utica convenience store sold two packets of synthetic marijuana that later tested positive for two synthetic opioids.

The synthetic marijuana also contained two benzodiazepines, controlled substances that act as depressants and are used to treat or prevent anxiety, muscle spasms and seizures; and ketamine, another controlled substance, frequently used as a veterinary anesthetic, as well as the expected chemicals that mimic the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

The potentially lethal samples were tested by the New York State Department of Health’s Drug Checking Program, which then released the results to warn drug users that synthetic marijuana, also known as K2 or Spice, may be mixed with drugs that can cause overdoses.

Oneida County raises alarm

The test results are alarming, but not surprising for those in the local drug treatment and prevention field.

“Basically the illegal drug supply is heavily contaminated,” said Daniel Gilmore, director of the Oneida County Health Department. “People who use drugs that are not legal to have, such as synthetic cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamines, etc., run the risk of purchasing something that’s contaminated with many substances, among them synthetic opioids or heroin . . . (or) xylazine, which is not an opioid at all. They run a great risk of consuming substances that they likely don’t intend to.”

Xylazine, a veterinary anesthetic often used with horses, was contained in drugs linked to four fatal overdoses in Oneida County so far this year, according to the Oneida County Opioid Task Force. Xylazine use also leads to sores on the body that are difficult to heal.

Synthetic cannabinoids, i.e., Spice and K2, have been the primary drug in 12.5% of the 281 overdoses as of Sept. 6 this year. That’s up from just 2.1% in 2022.

The Oneida County Opioid Overdose Task Force started seeing an increase in overdoses about a month and a half ago, though, said Robert Gonzalez, director of harm reduction services for ACR Health.  Some of those overdoses were particularly alarming because they apparently involved K2, not opioids, he said.

Mixing drugs could lead to more overdoses

The recently tested, adulterated synthetic marijuana was in packaging labeled “Gorilla Glue Bags,” but officials warned that a large batch was likely repackaged in a variety of packaging.

Officials did not name the convenience store because of an ongoing investigation. 

Some drug users report using only K2 and some people report deliberately mixing drugs, including K2, Gonzalez said. Either way, they run an increased risk of overdose if the K2 contains opioids. If they’re not used to opioids and accidentally take them, they are much more likely to overdose, he said. And if they are mixing multiple drugs that, unbeknownst to the user, have opioids in them, they risk overdosing from an unexpectedly powerful dose, he said.

Other data from Oneida County, including both drug testing and overdose reports, confirms the fact that illicit drugs of all kinds can be laced with other substances, including opioids, Gilmore and Gonzalez said.

The fact that the latest drugs to test positive for opioids were sold in a convenience store didn’t surprise Gonzalez. “People would be surprised where you can find K2 and other things,” he said. “People would be surprised that that coffee store that you go to every morning is where you can get illicit things. And I’m not saying that every store has K2 or other things in it.”

Having even more dangerous drugs mixed into other illicit substances does unquestionably make efforts to prevent overdoses and reduce the risks of drug use more challenging, Gilmore said.

And those efforts have been paying off, he said. As of Sept. 6, there were 33 fatal overdoses this year, compared to 66 last year at this time, and 249 non-fatal overdoses this year compared to 284 last year, Oneida County Overdose Response Team data shows. That data tracks only non-fatal overdoses to which first responders are called.

What to know about adulterated drugs

The most important message to give out given the latest news, Gilmore said, is that people who use any kind of illicit drugs should be careful and follow the same harm-reduction steps that opioid users have been advised to follow for a long time.

He and Gonzalez listed those steps:

• Don’t do drugs alone or at least let someone know to check up on you.

• Get fentanyl, xylazine and benzodiazepine test strips from an ACR Health office or its street engagement team and test all drugs.

• Always have naloxone (brand name Narcan), the medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, on hand.

• Reach out to ACR Health for virtual training on how to prevent overdoses and to get the needed supplies.

• If an illicit substance doesn’t taste, look or feel right, call ACR Health or go to its office.

ACR Health sends a peer outreach responder to contact everyone who has survived an overdose in the county within 72 hours if possible, Rodriguez said. The worker does an assessment of the person’s needs, tries to figure out what led to the overdose and how to prevent future overdoses, he said.

The worker also links the person to resources, including immediate treatment if desired, but not everyone who overdoses needs addiction treatment, Gonzalez pointed out.  For example, some are just “weekend warriors” trying to keep the weekend’s party going a little longer with cocaine only to find that the cocaine has been adulterated.

“We see it again and again,” he said, “where people overdose and die.”

Lots of different factors can go into why an individual starts using drugs and ends up overdosing, Gonzalez said. “Our goal,” he said, “is to identify those real, real-life reasons for why someone is where they are at and try to connect and support them through the process to get them out of that state.”

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Oneida County says fake pot samples bought in Utica store had opioids