Over and over again, St. Paul paramedics and EMTs have responded recently to people having bad reactions after apparently smoking synthetic marijuana. Some have been unconscious, some vomiting and others in a catatonic state.

The medical calls keeping the fire department busy are happening in the downtown area where many homeless people get services.

“We’ve seen any number of people collapse outside or down the street,” said Rosemarie Reger-Rumsey, executive director of the Listening House, a drop-in center near West Seventh Street and Xcel Energy Center. “Some have done a face plant and suffered some head injury, some have started to seize, some seem to be completely passed out and not rousable.”

Reger-Rumsey’s concern led her to call a St. Paul police official last week and suggest an emergency meeting. The meeting with social service providers, along with the St. Paul police and fire departments, is set for today.

Exact numbers are hard to come by and officials don’t know precisely what chemicals are at work, but they said they’re looking for answers after seeing people having serious medical problems. No deaths have been reported.

The fire department, whose paramedics and emergency medical technicians provide emergency medical services in the city, responded to 56 calls in the area of West Seventh and Fifth Street and Old Sixth Street in a 14-day period ending last Thursday, said Matt Simpson, assistant fire chief of EMS operations.

Not all the incidents were drug related, but “a large percentage were reported to be and people were referencing K2,” Simpson said.

“It’s a high enough volume that it’s bringing everyone’s attention level to a heightened awareness,” Simpson said Monday. “We want to know where it’s coming from, what’s in it and how do we inform people, ‘This is something you want to stay away from.'”

KNOWN AS K2 OR SPICE

The drugs that people are having bad reactions to in St. Paul seem to be synthetic cannabinoids — they are plant material that may look similar to marijuana, but have been sprayed with one or more chemicals, said Kirk Hughes, education director for the Minnesota Poison Control System.

There are hundreds of different kinds of synthetic marijuana, which people call K2 or Spice, and the symptoms vary.

“That’s what’s frustrating to EMTs … and police, ‘What do we look for?,’ ” Hughes said, adding that some of the effects are serious — kidney failure, continuous vomiting and seizures or seizure-like activity. “… You just don’t know what you’re getting is the bottom line and it sometimes can result in serious illness and/or death.”

A significant number of the people who were sickened in St. Paul have needed to go to hospitals, Simpson said. There have also been instances of EMTs called to help the same person twice in a day, according to Reger-Rumsey.

PROBLEM NOT CONFINED TO HOMELESS POPULATION

The fire department doesn’t have information about how many of the recent calls have involved people who are homeless, but it seems to be a large number of them.

“We do know that many struggle with addiction, though it’s not everyone using services down here,” Reger-Rumsey said. “If predators have something that’s cheap, that gives this immediate rush — though it doesn’t last all that long — they have a captive audience here.”

Not only homeless or transient people use the drug, though. Hughes said he’s heard about people from all walks of life smoking it.

Through his separate work as an EMT, Hughes has been told that synthetic marijuana for a single joint or bowl can sell for about $5.

A 10-gram package could cost people about $20, said Sgt. Shawn Murphy, a St. Paul police narcotics investigator. He said it may be labeled as potpourri or incense and sold at head shops, as well as on the street.

‘THIS STUFF IS REALLY DANGEROUS’

The police department’s narcotics unit is part of the Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team, which currently has some open investigations into synthetic marijuana sales, Murphy said.

On Saturday, St. Paul police found a 35-year-old man with suspected K2 in the area of the Dorothy Day Center and arrested him on suspicion of felony drug possession, according to a police report. He has not been charged.

Catholic Charities, which runs Dorothy Day and the nearby Higher Ground Shelter, is “part of a wide-ranging multi-agency collaboration that is working to decide on the most effective response to this emerging public health issue,” a spokeswoman said Monday.

At the Listening House, staff members try to talk to people after they’ve received medical attention.

“We say, ‘Let me tell you what we just witnessed. You went flat down on this,’ ” Reger-Rumsey said. “We’re telling them, ‘This stuff is really dangerous.’ ”

FYI

People who have questions about synthetic marijuana or who think someone might be under its influence can call the Minnesota Poison Control System round-the-clock, which is free and confidential, at 800-222-1222.