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Similarly, authorities in Alabama revealed that more than two dozen cannabis products alleging to contain CBD actually contained synthetic cannabinoids.

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All in all, the investigation’s lab testing showed synthetic cannabis labelled as CBD products in more than a dozen U.S. states.

“People have started to see the market grow and there are some fly-by-night companies trying to make a quick buck,” Marielle Weintraub, president of the U.S. Hemp Authority, told AP.

The practice of swapping out CBD for cheaply produced synthetics is believed to have contributed to dozens of people ending up in emergency rooms, even putting some users in a coma.

“It’s Russian roulette,” James Neal-Kababick, director of Flora Research Laboratories, which tested the products for the investigation, told AP.

In New Zealand, where the real thing is prohibited, synthetic cannabis has become a health crisis and is being blamed for a number of deaths, hospitalizations and deadly vehicular crashes, such as the one in Taranaki that killed seven people, including an eight-year-old child and a five-month-old baby.

The AP investigation comes on the heels of news reports of individuals experiencing lung disease—or, in a couple of reported cases, death—thanks to suspect vape cartridges. The American Medical Association, in fact, has urged Americans to stop using vapes of any kind for the time being. The cause so far remain unknown.

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