Police in Connecticut have arrested a suspect in connection with a “mass overdose” in a park which resulted in dozens of hospitalisations.
New Haven council’s communications chief, Laurence Grotheer, told the press emergency services had established a round-the clock incident command centre on the green.
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The city had also requested extra supplies of the opioid antidote Narcan from Connecticut’s Department of Public Health, he said.
Around 30 people were seen by medical professionals within a 12-hour period on Wednesday, local newspaper The Hartford Courant reports. By 10pm, that number had risen to 71.
Authorities say that those affected had smoked a form of synthetic cannabis known as “K2”, laced with mind-altering PCP or the potent opioid fentanyl.
Adding opioids or PCP, also known as angel dust, to the drug amplifies the high, but also results in a potentially deadly cocktail.
Two people are reported to be in critical condition. Meanwhile, police have arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the incident.
The identity of the patients is not known, but the green is a congregation site for the city’s homeless population, many of whom struggle with addiction and other mental health issues.
Mayor Harp said the incident was emblematic of the growing public health crisis in New Haven and in the US at large.
She added that the city is on the “front lines” of a “coast-to-coast struggle” to contain the sale and use of tainted street drugs.