More people who use synthetic drugs showing up at Duluth emergency room

Minnesota Public Radio news recently aired a story about a business in Duluth called The Last Place on Earth.

People line up outside the store every day to buy a synthetic form of marijuana despite a state law which bans that product.

Jim Carlson, who owns the store, is challenging the law in court. He says he should be able to sell all his products to law abiding people. He says his customers are not having any problems with their purchases.

But doctors, who work in Duluth emergency rooms, dispute the claim that people aren't having any problems with the drugs. They're seeing an increasing number of people show up with serious medical conditions after using synthetic marijuana and synthetic ecstasy.

Carlson's store no longer sells the synthetic ecstasy which is labeled as bath salts.

MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dr. Beth Bilden, a Medical Toxicologist and E.R. Physician for Essentia Health St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth.