It has a lot of nicknames. Some you might have heard of like K-2 or spice. Those are just some of the names for synthetic marijuana.
"Nobody wants to touch that stuff. We know it's dangerous,” said Brian Seamonson.
Brian Seamonson is with a group that is trying to loosen Wisconsin's marijuana laws.
He says a couple of years ago; he saw one of his friends use synthetic marijuana.
"They took one hit of it, and for about two to three minutes, they lost complete control of their bodily functions. As in their muscles, they couldn't feel their muscles and they said, they felt like they were actually melting,” said Seamonson.
It’s an image that still has him shaken up till this day.
"It's scary, it's really scare because he's stuck in a movement, he can't move, and you're trying to get him to respond back to you but he can't,” said Seamonson.
The Illinois Department of Health says they’ve had more than 150 cases of synthetic marijuana since March of this year. That includes 4 deaths.
Now Wisconsin is on alert. The drug has made its way to the state of Wisconsin, state officials say 4 cases have been confirmed.
Doctor Jonathan Meiman is with Wisconsin's department of health services.
He's leading the investigation on what the state is calling an outbreak.
"It can cause a variety of different effects on the body. They don't always work exactly like marijuana and in some cases, they can cause effects that are less predictable and produce things like nausea, hallucination, agitation, things like that,” said Meiman.
He says the 4 cases in Wisconsin are different than the ones in Illinois.
"The synthetic canaboids that people have used contain rat poison which has been responsible for severe bleeding, not only are we dealing with the synthetic cannabonoid. We're also dealing with additional factor on top,” said Meiman
Meiman says part of the investigation is to find out where the drugs are coming from and why they were laced with rat poison.
While the state conducts the investigation, Seamonson has a different take on how to stop synthetic marijuana
"The access to go in and get safe, you know, alternative medication. I think that'll push the stuff off the shelves."
While no laws are currently being changed and the investigation is still in its early stages, Semonson does have one message.
"Just to anyone, who wants to try K-2 is just to stay away from it. It's very dangerous. Educate yourself on it."
