The “Weird News” section of the Huffington Post recently reported on a fake news story that stated four people had died and 49 were hospitalized after consuming bad weed or edibles in Colorado.
But don’t believe it.
The Boston Tribune, which published the hysterical story, is a fake newspaper, according to Snopes and, therefore, so is the story.
Snopes, a highly-respected resource for validating and debunking stories of unknown or questionable origin, listed the phony newspaper among sites that “appear to be legitimate local news bearing shocking (but fake) stories.”
A spokesman for Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division assured the Huffington Post that all safety advisories would be posted on its own website and that it was not aware of any marijuana recalls, illness and much less, deaths.
Nevertheless, the fear-mongering article took on a life of its own once it hit social media. Believing the bad weed to have been synthetic marijuana, many commenters were outraged at how it ended up on dispensary shelves in Denver.
The fake report went so far as to publish a website and Facebook page that corresponded to the offending business, Rite Greens Pot Shop, which supposedly confirmed the recall. However, it seems this company does not exist.
The Seattle phone number listed for Rite Greens’ website was not a working number and Google maps showed its business address to be an abandoned parking lot in Denver, reported Huff Post.
It is well known that there have been zero deaths from marijuana overdoses, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
But, synthetic marijuana—known as K2 or Spice—can be deadly and can cause a wide range of harmful effects, including mental, cardiovascular and renal disorders.
So, moral of the story—the real story—stay away from fake pot and fake news sites.
Related: An Investigation into the Biggest Marijuana Hoaxes and Untrue Pot Stories
For all of HIGH TIMES’ marijuana news, click here.
from
http://hightimes.com/news/fake-news-site-sparks-concern-with-outrageous-marijuana-claim/
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