Teen dies after smoking synthetic pot

PITTSBURGH?? A 13-year-old in the U.S. who became ill after smoking synthetic marijuana and had a double lung transplant has died.

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Tonya Rice tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper that her 13-year-old son, Brandon, died Thursday morning at a hospital in Pennsylvania.

The boy smoked the fake marijuana out of a plastic candy dispenser and suffered chemical burns to both lungs. He was put on a respirator in June and had a double lung transplant in September.

The boy's mother says anti-rejection drugs he's taken since the transplants weakened his immune system and made him unable to fight off a recent infection.

Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law outlawing such substances a few days after the boy became ill. The ban took effect in August.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45066318/ns/health-addictions/

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