A Connecticut teenager was left “traumatized” after her best friend poisoned her with fake marijuana, causing her to faint and have seizures.
Alexa Weinbaum, then 16, was at a party when her best friend since childhood handed her what she believed was marijuana in a pipe.
In reality it was a synthetic version that is 100 times more potent than cannabis and has been linked to cases of psychosis.
Weinbaum, now 24, passed out after one puff and said when she woke up she was being beaten by her friends. When she finally broke free and ran to the street for help, she suffered a series of seizures.
Alexa Weinbaum (24), from Connecticut, was just 16 years old when her best friend of two years tried to kill her after they were invited to a friend’s house to smoke marijuana.
In a psychotic state after being poisoned and beaten, Ms. Weinbaum ran into the street screaming for help and ended up suffering a series of life-threatening seizures and heart problems.
Weinbaum said that at the time she was “just focused on surviving…I was terrified, I couldn’t process that at the time.”
When he freed himself from the others, he ran into the street to call for help.
Finally, a neighbor called 911 when he collapsed to the ground and had multiple consecutive seizures.
He needed urgent medical attention, including oxygen, an intravenous drip and a battery of scans of his brain and heart to detect more acute and permanent damage.
The substance he inhaled was K2. Doctors said there were also opiates in her system, which were likely mixed with the synthetic marijuana.
He was in the hospital for several days and then had frequent visitors for a few months for various physical and mental reasons.
K2, also known as spice, contains chemicals similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in cannabis, but they are much more potent.
It consists of spices and ground plant material that is sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids, which the FDA has not tested for safety.
A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that about 19 percent of synthetic marijuana users suffered seizures, compared to six percent of those who smoked cannabis.
In addition to causing psychosis, confusion, anxiety, seizures, and tachycardia, synthetic cannabis can cause fainting, kidney failure, and reduced blood flow to the heart.
Heart problems have followed Weinbaum for years after the attack.
She doesn’t know for sure why her friend attacked her, but she later discovered that the friend had been groomed by the older man who gave her the poison.
Weinbaum believes they plotted to kill her.
She said: “It’s a very complicated thing because, although I still feel anger, I have also come to understand that she too was a victim of harassment and abuse.”
She believed the attack could also be related to an abusive relationship with her friend’s brother. He had threatened to kill Mrs. Weinbaum in the past, but she was eventually able to end the relationship.
Since the attack, she has shared her story about recovering from trauma and has begun a career advocating for crime victims.
she established Sound of survivorsdescribed as “a platform dedicated to fostering ongoing discussions among survivors and providing essential resources to assist in their healing process.”
The attack was not the end. The people involved blackmailed her.
She said: “I’m not sure of the exact number of people who blackmailed me, as some happened anonymously, but people who were in the room that day and people they knew, as well as other people who wanted to keep me quiet for their own interests.” .
“They told me that if I said anything, explicit photos of me would be shared, that I would be killed, that my family would be hurt, that they would tell me the whole thing and I would get in trouble.”
The people who, according to her, carried out the attack were not convicted of any crime, although they were criminally charged.
