NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Forty-six people overdosed Wednesday at or near a Connecticut park from a suspected bad batch of “K2” synthetic marijuana, requiring paramedics to be stationed there to provide treatment, authorities said.
No deaths were reported, but officials said two people suffered life-threatening symptoms.
Most of the overdoses were on the New Haven Green, a popular, historic downtown park that borders part of Yale University, and officials said they expected the overdose total to increase. Police said they arrested a man believed to be connected to at least some of the overdoses.
“Do not come down to the Green and purchase this K2,” New Haven Police Chief Anthony Campbell told WVIT-TV. “It is taking people out very quickly, people having respiratory failure. Don’t put your life in harm.”
Paramedics and police officers remained at the park all day as more people fell ill. Some became unconscious and others vomited, authorities said. Emergency responders rushed to one victim as officials were giving a news conference nearby late Wednesday morning.
