Dozens O-D on synthetic marijuana in New Haven, Connecticut

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — At least 71 people have overdosed from synthetic marijuana in Connecticut with at least 52 of them at or near a Connecticut city park, authorities said late Wednesday. Most of the overdoses happened on the New Haven Green — a downtown park near Yale University — throughout the day Wednesday, according to officials.

The Office of Emergency Management in New Haven said it is still fielding calls and the number of victims could increase. They say no deaths have been reported so far, but at least six victims were near death.

An official in the city said earlier there were a total of 25 overdoses over a three-hour span and that some overdoses were “in multiples of 4-6 at a time.” All of those overdoses were in the area of the New Haven Green, said Rick Fontana, the city’s director of emergency operations.

Testing from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration revealed that the drug in question is K2. It’s a potent, synthetic drug, that induces a marijuana-like effect. The DEA also says there were no additives in the K2.

CBS affiliate WFSB-TV reports that the Department of Public Health delivered 50 doses of Narcan, a drug that can help in a narcotics overdose, to replenish the supply that had been used by first responders in the last 24 hours in New Haven.

The station adds that three arrests have been made. The identities of those people weren’t immediately released.

Fontana said the city’s 911 center started receiving calls just after 8 a.m. about possible overdoses at the park. Responding personnel found individuals suffering from “a multitude of signs and symptoms ranging from vomiting, hallucinating, high blood pressure, shallow breathing, semi-conscious and unconscious states,” he said in an email.

“Two individuals had life-threatening symptoms, and the others had non-life-threatening symptoms,” he said.

Hearst Connecticut Media/Arnold Gold

Sandy Bogucki, EMS medical director in New Haven, said they heard from people on the green Wednesday morning that whatever was consumed “potentially” contained PCP and that some of the reactions of the patients in the emergency department suggest an opioid was involved. 

Officials said the patients were “all different ages” and that anti-overdose drugs given to some victims did not work.

More than a dozen people overdosed on synthetic marijuana at the same park July 4.

Hearst Connecticut Media/Ed Stannard

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy released a statement Wednesday highlighting the “very real and serious threat that illicit street drugs pose to the health of individuals”:

The substance behind these overdoses is highly dangerous and must be avoided. The state Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services have been assisting New Haven officials throughout the day. I have spoken with Mayor Harp and assured her that the state remains committed and ready to assist their response efforts wherever needed.

New Haven, Connecticut, Mayor Toni Harp’s statement said:

Today New Haven was on the front lines of a coast-to-coast struggle to combat the public health menace of illicit distribution and use of what appear to be tainted street drugs … I’m extremely grateful for the timely and effective work of first responders who helped revive, transport, and save these victims. I’m also grateful to the state Department of Public Health for its quick response to our request for additional doses of Narcan, the antidote administered to several of those afflicted.