Police respond to string of overdoses due to synthetic drugs

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - At least nine people in Indianapolis have been treated after police say they overdosed by smoking or ingesting synthetic drugs called Spice.

Police say officers began receiving calls about 1 p.m. Saturday within a 3-block radius in the city's downtown district.

Paramedics began treating victims who had lost consciousness. Others in the area showed signs of using the drugs, but did not require medical help.

The Indianapolis Star reports that more than a dozen people were treated or hospitalized within a 5-hour span near a homeless shelter. Most were men.

Two men were arrested on drug charges in February after about two dozen people apparently overdosed on bath salts in or around the same shelter. Bath salts are chemicals that mimic the effects of cocaine and other drugs