onedef92
10-18-2013, 11:11am
'Crazy clown' drug kills kids, baffles scientists
Posted: Sep 10, 2013 5:58 AM EDT
Updated: Sep 17, 2013 5:58 AM EDT
OMAHA, NE (KETV/CNN) – Investigators, even scientists, have never seen anything like it.
The new synthetic drug called Crazy Clown is now linked to deaths across the country.
Inside a small, foil packet is not even a handful of innocent-looking herbs.
"It's kind of a sweet smelling, material because they add some stuff to make it smell sweet, smells like incense almost," Forensic Scientist Christine Gabig said.
It's even sold as incense if you know where to look.
"Typically these things are just bought at local head shops and maybe even some gas stations," Gabig said.
She says it's falling into hands of kids around the country.
"Some reports say 60 kids hospitalized in Georgia right now and some say 100 hospitalized in Georgia," Gabig said.
She's charged with figuring out what the Crazy Clown really is, and right now, she doesn't have an answer.
"I've never seen this. This took me quite a while to research," Gabig said.
But was she does know is these herbs are coated in a substance similar to the molecular structure of other synthetic drugs, but this is new.
"It's a researched chemical that they made to fit into that same receptor in the brain that THC would fit loosely into," Gabig said. "The problem is these fit tightly into that receptor causing much more of a reaction. "
The reaction can be fatal. "From the reports, foaming at the mouth, seizures and people are dying," she said.
But despite very real danger, just last week, two 16-year-old students from Papillion-La Vista tried Crazy Clown, almost killing one of them. So the school district sent out a letter, warning parents.
"We wanted to open that dialogue with parents and make sure parents were talking with their students about it," said Annette Eyman, communications director of Papillion-La Vista.
Gabig said the new substance scares her as a scientist.
"It's here, it's in Omaha," she said.
A package of Crazy Clown usually runs $30 to $50.
Posted: Sep 10, 2013 5:58 AM EDT
Updated: Sep 17, 2013 5:58 AM EDT
OMAHA, NE (KETV/CNN) – Investigators, even scientists, have never seen anything like it.
The new synthetic drug called Crazy Clown is now linked to deaths across the country.
Inside a small, foil packet is not even a handful of innocent-looking herbs.
"It's kind of a sweet smelling, material because they add some stuff to make it smell sweet, smells like incense almost," Forensic Scientist Christine Gabig said.
It's even sold as incense if you know where to look.
"Typically these things are just bought at local head shops and maybe even some gas stations," Gabig said.
She says it's falling into hands of kids around the country.
"Some reports say 60 kids hospitalized in Georgia right now and some say 100 hospitalized in Georgia," Gabig said.
She's charged with figuring out what the Crazy Clown really is, and right now, she doesn't have an answer.
"I've never seen this. This took me quite a while to research," Gabig said.
But was she does know is these herbs are coated in a substance similar to the molecular structure of other synthetic drugs, but this is new.
"It's a researched chemical that they made to fit into that same receptor in the brain that THC would fit loosely into," Gabig said. "The problem is these fit tightly into that receptor causing much more of a reaction. "
The reaction can be fatal. "From the reports, foaming at the mouth, seizures and people are dying," she said.
But despite very real danger, just last week, two 16-year-old students from Papillion-La Vista tried Crazy Clown, almost killing one of them. So the school district sent out a letter, warning parents.
"We wanted to open that dialogue with parents and make sure parents were talking with their students about it," said Annette Eyman, communications director of Papillion-La Vista.
Gabig said the new substance scares her as a scientist.
"It's here, it's in Omaha," she said.
A package of Crazy Clown usually runs $30 to $50.