Zombies! People in a zombielike state found in Brooklyn

It was near in a subway station on Myrtle Avenue and Broadway, on the border of Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant, were multiple people are seen acting strange more associated with apocalyptic Hollywood movies than medical emergencies.

There were 18 people taken to the area hospitals that day, and 8 of them are tested based on blood and urine samples. The results pointed to an overdose of a synthetic drug.

A drug called AMB-FUBINACA was responsible in turning people to a zombielike state. Emergency medical technicians called to a mass casualty event in Brooklyn. They reported multiple people "all of whom had a degree of altered mental status that was described by bystanders 'zombielike'".

According to ChingLabs, AMB-FUBINACA is a fluorinated synthetic cannabinoid that is extremely potent and a very short acting. Users have reported returning to sober state 30-40mins after administration. It has also higher boiling points than other synthetic cannabinoids which means it is easy been inhaled.

AMB-FUBINACA is not fit for human and animal consumption because it is very harmful to lungs and systemic organs. Using it may enhance emotional state causing feelings of elation or overwhelming euphoria. It can also exacerbate negative mental states such as anxiety or paranoia and can induce acute psychosis.

An article from The New York Times reported that as these illicit substances continues to grow, the world of synthetic drugs continues to evolve, creating new chemicals to evade detection.

"The term synthetic marijuana is dangerously misleading", says Roy Gerona, a clinical chemist at the University of California. "...and AM-FUBINACA drugs are usually described by the generic shorthand, 'synthetic marijuana.' There is a false idea out there that these drugs are safe because no one overdoses marijuana", Gerona explains further.

The history of synthetic drug brings back to Clemson University with John W. Huffman who was looking for ways to create a drug in a lab that could enhance the medicinal aspect of THC while minimizing its psychotropic effects. He synthesized more than 300 compounds and published it in the academic literature.

As years went by, around 2008, synthetic compound started to appear in the streets in America as K2 and in Europe as Spice. It has a chemical agent known as JWH-18 which eventually increased the demand and became a Class 1 narcotic.