SCRAs are accessible and affordable, sold online, in gas stations, and in “head” shops for $5-30 per package.[1] While marijuana is a schedule 1 narcotic, unavailable for any use, SCRAs navigate the legal landscape with marketing as non-consumable and frequent modifications to the active ingredients that outpace lawmakers’ updates. When consumed, SCRAs bind the same receptor as the active ingredient in marijuana with 10-1000 times the affinity. Physical reactions to marijuana use include breathing problems, increased heart rate, hallucinations, paranoia, lower blood pressure, and dizziness. [2] Health departments have reported varying clinical presentations in response to SCRAs, including extreme agitation and tachycardia. Ongoing reports of SCRA reactions and rising marijuana legalization emphasize the imperative to leverage syndromic surveillance to monitor trends, detect emerging outbreaks, and observe changes in clinical presentations or user demographics.
Objective
Use syndromic surveillance to identify and monitor adverse health events resulting from synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) or marijuana. Characterize the current trend of SCRAs and marijuana use among emergency department (ED) and urgent care center (UCC) visits in Virginia to determine whether findings align with utilization trends identified by other states from poison control center calls and ED visits.