Nola

It's poison, said East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William "Beau" Clark, of synthetic marijuana.

The trouble with the stuff is the medical professionals can't keep up with it, he told a crowd Friday (Sept. 19) at a Capital Area Human Services event on Government Street.

"It's dangerous because you don't know what's in it," Clark said. 

A hit might have little effect; another might get you high. Some hits, however, could prompt a state of acute psychosis. Others -- kidney failure or a heart attack.

"It may do nothing...or it may kill you," he said.

Clark said he's heard of people after smoking the stuff have jumped off a roof because they think they can fly. Two years ago in Baton Rouge, a young man authorities believed had smoked synthetic marijuana walked right into traffic and was killed.

But use of synthetic marijuana, also known as mojo, is prevalent across the country and in Baton rouge, especially among 12-to-29-year-olds. It's popular among some, Clark noted, because it doesn't show up on drug tests.

Ivan Toldson, aka Love-N-Pain, has been shot, committed violence, snorted drugs and run a counterfeit money operation. He knows people who died from that lifestyle and knows people who are incarcerated because of it. Now 30, Toldson has recovered from his past addictions and pattern of bad decisions and works to help others Woodlake Addiction Recovery overcome their own addiction problems.

On Friday (Sept. 19), Toldson launched a music video he produced for Capital Area Human Services, which warns listeners of the dangers of synthetic marijuana while acknowledging the pressure to use it.

It's a drug Toldson said he has some personal experience with, and though it didn't do anything to him at all -- he knows a former patient who died after smoking it. They found him "collapsed in a doorway," Toldson said.  

Toldson grew emotional at a lectern before telling the crowd his story as part of the "Recovery is real" event, apologizing for his tears by explaining he knew his father would be proud of him.

The music video, which contains rap lyrics about the "Russian Roulette" drug interlaced with sounds of TV news reports, is intended to raise awareness about dangers of synthetic marijuana through a social media campaign. 

Watch the video on YouTube or below, and "repost for recovery" on your social media accounts.