For the past three weeks, there have been around 85 overdoses due to use of synthetic marijuana, commonly known as spice.
This drug epidemic has been prevalent at various hospitals throughout Mississippi, including the Oktibbeha County Hospital.
Kim Roberts of the public relations department at OCH, said there were two confirmed reports of spice overdoses, both young adult males, from the Emergency Department.  She said the two patients presented with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, rapid heart rate, sweating and agitation.
“When patients present to the ER, some may not admit what they have used, and we do not have any specified laboratory tests to check for Spice intoxication,” Roberts said.
Vance Rice, MSU Police Chief, said there have been no incidents of Spice overdose on campus, but there have been several incidents at off-campus locations. He said Spice is dangerous because it can have stronger effects on some individuals than it does on others.
“We have not had any (incidents) on-campus, however, we had two students hospitalized because of (spice),” Rice said. “Hopefully, our students are getting the message that this stuff affects everyone differently. There have been a lot of deaths as a result of it.”
Lauren Spearman, a senior biochemistry major, said she thinks Spice is dangerous and people should stay away from it.
“It is dangerous because of the harmful additives, and you do not know what you are getting. There are carcinogens in the ingredients that have long-term effects, and they are also addictive substances,” Spearman said. 
Spearman, who graduates in May and will be attending pharmacy school in the fall, said some would consider taking a synthetic form of marijuana rather than regular marijuana due to drug tests administered for these types of drugs.
“When they search for drugs in people’s systems, they search for metabolites of the drug. Drug tests would be unlikely to detect synthetic marijuana because it is looking for THC metabolites,” Spearman said.
Thomas Dobbs, State Epidemiologist for the Mississippi State Department of Health, said, in an email to Mississippi  hospitals, since April 2 the Mississippi Poison Control Center has received over 180 reports of Spice overdoses in numerous counties across the state.
“In an effort to better understand the clinical presentation, underlying risk factors and geographic spread of this increase in reported adverse events, MSDH is initiating an enhanced surveillance system. At this time, we are interested in tracking the number of Emergency Department admissions for individuals with a presentation consistent with synthetic cannabinoid use,” Dobbs said.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Spice, or synthetic marijuana, refers to a wide variety of herbal mixtures that produce similar experiances to marijuana and are marketed as “safe” legal alternatives to marijuana.
Synthetic marijuana contains dried, shredded plant material and chemical additives that account for the mind-altering, psychoactive effects. It is sold under many different names including K2, Yucatan Fire, Skunk, Moon Rocks, and many others that are all labeled not for human consumption.
Over 100 cases of Spice overdose reports in Jackson, Mississippi in recent weeks have been tentatively linked to the synthetic marijuana produced by Latoya Yvette Emmons and Lester Lavell Singleton.  
Emmons and Singleton were arrested April 9 for manufacturing synthetic marijuana in their apartment in the Jackson area. Over 200,000 empty packages yet to be filled with the drug were found by law enforcement. Authorities are trying to prove a connection between the batch of Spice produced by Emmons and Singleton and the high number of overdoses in the area, The Clarion-Ledger reported on April 11.