Teen synthetic LSD overdoses a warning for parents

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - A warning for parents after two perfectly healthy teens are rushed to the hospital and almost die. What happened and why do some say other children are also at risk? On a Monday evening at a home in Friendswood, someone contacted 911 because three teenagers overdosed. What did they take? They put a small square piece of paper in their mouths which was pulled from what looks like a colorful sheet of stamps.  The paper is actually coated with a synthetic hallucinogenic.

"Two of the three teens that had overdosed were exhibiting excited delirium type behavior," explains Friendswood Police Department Chief Robert Wieners. He calls it poison on paper and says the chemical causes similar effects as the illegal drug LSD, sending users into psychotic and paranoid episodes.

"They're agitated," adds Chief Wieners. "Their pupils are dilated. They have elevated body temperature. They have elevated blood pressure." He also says two of the three Friendswood teens, who overdosed on Oct. 5 by putting substance-soaked squares underneath their tongue, were in such an altered state they were fighting paramedics and had to be forced to get life-saving treatment.

"They had to be restrained and they had to be sedated so they could be transported to the hospital for treatment," says Chief Wieners.

All three teens survived. Chief Wieners says this is an all too familiar reminder of a 2012 case when a Friendswood youngster died after using synthetic LSD at a rave party in Houston.

"This is not a Friendswood issue," says Chief Wieners. "This is a regional issue."
     
Friendswood police assisted in a drug bust at a Pearland apartment in August and found 16 pounds of synthetic LSD. Six people were arrested and charged with manufacturing.

"I mean (they) probably never owned a chemistry set and when you've got people like that manufacturing this stuff, you have no idea what's in it," says Chief Wieners. He also says he's warning parents because children seem to be attracted to this dangerous drug. "They are just exposing themselves unnecessarily to something that could prove fatal."