Manchester ‘Spice’ Overdoses Intensify ‘Public Health Crisis’
First responders in the Queen City have stated that "It's overwhelming us,” according to WMUR.
Manchester police were clobbered with calls Saturday morning, WMUR News 9 stated, and shortly after a shift change at 8 am, 911 calls started pouring in. In a very short amount of time, the department had fielded a dozen calls concerning overdoses.
While other drugs were involved with some calls, many were for the synthetic marijuana product known as 'spice,' the news station reported.
Manchester District Chief Henry Martineau told WMUR News 9: "Seems like we got a bad batch on the streets today, it's overwhelming us.” He added while you can buy spice over the counter, the overdoses are likely the result a street version of the drug being laced with another.
"Whatever they're lacing the spice with in the streets, that's what they're taking,” he told the news station.
According to WMUR News 9, a large number of the calls originated from New Horizons Homeless Shelter on Manchester Street.
Cathy Kuhn, Chief Strategy Officer of New Horizons told WMUR: "It's a public health crisis in the city. And so, it's something we think needs to involve many partners. And so, we want to be a part of that to get this under control."
Spice is legal in New Hampshire.
According to the Partnership For a Drug Free New Hampshire, 'spice' is a mixture of leaves and spices that are sprayed with chemicals , expecting to have the same effect as marijuana.