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Connecticut teen left with seizures and memory loss after best friend 'poisoned' her with synthetic marijuana
A Connecticut teenager was left 'traumatized' after her best friend poisoned her with fake weed that caused her to blackout and suffer seizures.
Alexa Weinbaum, then 16, was at a party when her best friend since childhood handed her what she believed to be marijuana in a bong.
It was actually a synthetic version that is 100 times more potent than cannabis and has been linked to cases of psychosis.
Ms Weinbaum, now 24, blacked out after one puff and said when she awoke she was being beaten by her friends. When she finally broke free and ran into the street for help, she suffered a series of seizures.
Alexa Weinbaum (24) from Connecticut was just 16 years old when her female best friend of two years tried to kill her after they were invited to a male 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 having a series of seizures as well as life-threatening cardiac events
Ms Weinbaum said that in the moment she was 'just focused on surviving... I was terrified, I couldn’t process that in the moment.'
When she broke free of the others, she ran into the street outside to flag down help.
Finally, a neighbor called 911, when she collapsed on the ground and had multiple consecutive seizures.
She needed urgent medical attention, including oxygen, an IV drip, and a battery of scans of her brain and heart to check for more acute, permanent damage
The substance she inhaled was K2. Doctors said there were also opiates in her system, which were probably laced in the synthetic marijuana.
She was in the hospital for several days and then had frequent visits for a few months afterward for various physical and mental related reasons.
K2, also known as spice, contains chemicals similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in cannabis but are much more potent.
It consists of spices and shredded 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 about 19 percent of synthetic marijuana users had a seizure, compared to six percent of those who smoked cannabis.
In addition to leading to psychosis, confusion, anxiety, seizures, and rapid heart rate, synthetic cannabis can cause fainting, kidney failure, and reduced blood flow to the heart.
Heart issues have followed Ms Weinbaum for years after the attack.
She does not know for sure why her friend attacked her, but found out later that the friend had been groomed by the older man who handed her the poison.
Ms Weinbaum believes they conspired to kill her.
She said: 'It’s such a complicated thing because while I still feel anger, I also have grown to understand that she was also a victim of grooming and abuse.'
She believed the attack may have also linked to an abusive relationship with the friend's brother. He had threatened to kill Ms Weinbaum in the past, but she was finally able to end the relationship.
Since the attack, she has shared her story about healing from trauma and begun a career of advocacy for crime victims.
She founded Sound of Survivors, described as 'a platform dedicated to fostering ongoing discussions among survivors and providing essential resources to aid in their healing process.'
The attack was not the end. The people involved blackmailed her.
She said: ‘I’m not sure the exact number of people who blackmailed me since some happened anonymously, but the people in the room that day and people they knew, as well as other people who wanted to keep me quiet for their own interests.
‘I was told that if I said anything, explicit photographs of me would be shared, that I’d be killed, that my family would be hurt, that they would spin the entire thing on me and I’d get in trouble.’
The people who she said carried out the assault were not convicted of a crime, though they were criminally charged.