9 Minnesota prison workers exposed to unknown substances have been
hospitalized
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[September 20, 2024]
BAYPORT, Minn. (AP) — Nine workers at a Minnesota prison fell ill
and were hospitalized Thursday after being exposed to unknown synthetic
substances possessed by men who are incarcerated, state officials said.
The Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater in Bayport was put under
lockdown as officials raced to assess how far the substances may have
spread throughout the prison. Officials had not identified the
substances or their source Thursday, Minnesota Department of Corrections
Commissioner Paul Schnell said.
“These synthetic substances are particularly dangerous because the
chemical properties that comprise them are unknown and uncontrolled,”
Schnell said. “We are prioritizing our investigative efforts to identify
and prosecute those responsible for conspiring to introduce these
substances into the secure correctional environment."
The episode began when a staff person at the prison responded to a
report of a man who is incarcerated smoking unknown substances in his
cell. The worker began to feel lightheaded and experienced nausea and an
increased heart rate, and was taken to a hospital. A short time later,
three more staffers who were exposed to the man smoking or worked in the
same housing unit began to experience similar symptoms and were
hospitalized.
In a separate encounter, a man who is incarcerated in the same housing
unit threw a container holding unknown substances near workers. Those
workers also began to feel sick and were hospitalized. Between the two
episodes, nine prison staffers were hospitalized and later released. One
was given Narcan, the nasal spray version of overdose-reversal drug
naloxone, when they began to experience symptoms.
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The Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater prison is seen, Dec.
15, 2020, in Bayport, Minn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
None of the workers were expected to suffer lasting injuries, Schnell
said.
One of the people caught smoking told investigators he had smoked a
stronger than expected dose of K2, a synthetic form of marijuana. The
substance can sometimes be smuggled into prisons through letters,
magazines and other paper products, Schnell said.
Schnell believes the substance has been linked to death of some people
incarcerated in Minnesota, but those cases are still pending.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections and agencies across the country
have turned to increasingly stringent measures to stop the substances
from getting into prison, including photocopying letters instead of
distributing original paper letters.
Schnell said the facility would remain locked down until Friday.
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