INDIANAPOLIS (WSVN) — First responders in the midwest say a new street drug laced with bug spray is causing users to act like a zombie.
According to Fox 59, the Indianapolis Fire Department said firefighters have seen a huge spike in the number of people overdosing on the street drug “KD,” which is usually a mix of marijuana, tobacco, or spice doused in a heavy-duty bug spray. Users then smoke the mixture.
“Their movements are slow and lethargic, a lot of drooling and a loss of function. We find them with their clothes off, eating the grass, pulling dirt out of the ground and trying to put it in their mouth,” Indianapolis Fire Cpt. Chris Major said. “We describe it as being like a zombie.”
Fox 59 captured video of crews responding to a man who was unresponsive and struggling to breathe while overdosing on the drug.
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“We find people passed out with it still in their hand. That is how fast it has an effect on them,” Major said. “They do not know what is in this stuff or who has made it, so they are all taking chance. Which for some reason they are willing to do because we get the same people using over and over again.”
However, SC Johnson, the company that manufactures Raid and other pest control products, said the reports surrounding their bug spray are “completely inaccurate.”
“We’ve seen an increasing number of media reports about drug users intentionally misusing pest products such as Raid and OFF!, made by SC Johnson, to achieve a catatonic state for up to 45-minutes. Such reports are completely inaccurate,” Kelly M. Semrau, a spokeswoman for the company, told Forbes in a statement.
“According to our scientific experts, exposure to the active ingredients in these products would not cause the reported effects,” Semrau added.
Semrau also told Forbes their products do not cause the same effects on humans as they do in bugs. “Our products are safe when used as directed,” she said.
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