Louisiana bans components for synthetic marijuana due to health scare

Louisiana has banned the sale and use of eight compounds marketed as synthetic marijuana to stem an increase in the use of the drugs that have sent scores of people to hospitals with dangerous reactions to toxins, officials said on Thursday. In recent weeks, more than 100 people have been treated in emergency rooms in the state after using synthetic marijuana, including many suffering life-threatening maladies, they said. “This emergency rule immediately empowers law enforcement officials to remove these dangerous substances from commerce,” said Kathy Kliebert, the chief of the state’s Department of Health and Hospitals. The drugs, also known as synthetic cannabinoids, first began appearing in the United States in 2009, the American Association of Poison Control Centers said.