CORRECTION: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that 700,000, instead of 700, people have been poisoned. The error has been corrected.
MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – Approximately 700 have been poisoned and more than 25 have died, after using a new form of synthetic cannabis, widely known as “Spice”, the head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) Viktor Ivanov told RIA Novosti on Monday.
According to Ivanov, medical institutions around the country have started to record a large number of poisoning cases after smoking the “Spice”. Both adults and teenagers have been affected.
“At the moment, over 700 cases [of poisoning] have been recorded, including more than two dozen deaths”, Ivanov said at State Anti-Drug Committee meeting.
Ivanov told the most affected regions were the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (North of Russia), and two districts in the Volga Federal District – Kirov Region and the Republic of Bashkortostan.
It was reported earlier that the State Duma has already prepared a draft bill aimed at banning the substances, used in smoking blends.
