--- title: Nearly 120 Die of Synthetic Marijuana Overdoses description: In less than a week, more than 100 people in Texas overdosed on a drug that is not technically banned by federal or state laws and has been designed to give users highs similar to marijuana canonical: https://time.com/89835/synthetic-marijuana-overdoses-k2/ author: David Winograd article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-06T19:34:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:41:16.880Z article:section: Health og:title: Nearly 120 Die of Synthetic Marijuana Overdoses og:description: In less than a week, more than 100 people in Texas overdosed on a drug that is not technically banned by federal or state laws and has been designed to give users highs similar to marijuana og:url: https://time.com/89835/synthetic-marijuana-overdoses-k2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte05355b18ac7b2c8/69868e23169ab0671a2792e7/ap100215038652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Fake Pot Ban og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nearly 120 Die of Synthetic Marijuana Overdoses twitter:description: In less than a week, more than 100 people in Texas overdosed on a drug that is not technically banned by federal or state laws and has been designed to give users highs similar to marijuana twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte05355b18ac7b2c8/69868e23169ab0671a2792e7/ap100215038652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Nearly 120 People Overdose on Synthetic Marijuana in 5-Day Period > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [David Winograd](https://time.com/author/david-winograd/) ## David Winograd May 6, 2014 7:34 PM UTC  A package of K2 , a concoction of dried herbs sprayed with chemicals A package of K2 , a concoction of dried herbs sprayed with chemicalsKelley McCall—AP by [David Winograd](https://time.com/author/david-winograd/) ## David Winograd May 6, 2014 7:34 PM UTC Almost 120 people in a five-day period in Texas [overdosed on a synthetic drug](http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/Near-120-statewide-overdose-on-synthetic-marijuana-from-Dallas-258028241.html) that mimics the effects of marijuana. Police believe the drug on which the victims overdosed, known as K2, came from the same Dallas supplier, News 8 reports. Some of the overdose victims had to be sedated before being treated. Dr. James d’Etienne of Dallas’ Baylor Medical Center [said](http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/More-than-30-overdose-on-synthetic-marijuana-in-a-day-in-Dallas-257765821.html) that “several of \[the patients\] came in with similar symptoms of psychosis, altered mental status, abnormal behavior.” K2 is designed by the chemists who create it to give users a high that is similar to weed. The effects of K2, however, are largely unknown. The substance is not listed as an illegal drug, so vendors [can sell](http://time.com/57167/rise-of-fake-pot/) it without fear of legal repercussions, as TIME reported in an [April cover story](http://time.com/57167/rise-of-fake-pot/) on the dramatic rise of synthetic pot’s popularity. Police are investigating the composition of the substance connected to the rash of overdoses to determine if they were laced with other drugs. \[[_News 8_](http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/Near-120-statewide-overdose-on-synthetic-marijuana-from-Dallas-258028241.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/89835/synthetic-marijuana-overdoses-k2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/89835/synthetic-marijuana-overdoses-k2/"},"headline":"Nearly 120 People Overdose on Synthetic Marijuana in 5-Day Period","datePublished":"2014-05-06T19:34:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:41:16.880Z","description":"In less than a week, more than 100 people in Texas overdosed on a drug that is not technically banned by federal or state laws and has been designed to give users highs similar to marijuana","url":"https://time.com/89835/synthetic-marijuana-overdoses-k2/","keywords":["Drugs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte05355b18ac7b2c8/69868e23169ab0671a2792e7/ap100215038652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Winograd","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-winograd/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte05355b18ac7b2c8/69868e23169ab0671a2792e7/ap100215038652.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fake Pot Ban","caption":"Fake Pot Ban","creditText":"Kelley McCall—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/89835/synthetic-marijuana-overdoses-k2/","name":"Nearly 120 People Overdose on Synthetic Marijuana in 5-Day Period"}}]}] ```