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Boy, 13, On Life Support After Using 'Spice'

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A 13-year-old boy is fighting for his life at Children's Hospital.

Brandon Rice is on life support after his parents said he smoked a dangerous synthetic drug that mimics marijuana.

KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin reports that "spice" or K-2 is blamed for at least a dozen deaths nationwide.

Rice has been on life support at Children's Hospital since the middle of June. His parents said his lungs have been destroyed by the effects of the drug and that he needs a lung transplant.

Right now, he isn't strong enough to make it through the surgery.

On YouTube, there are hundreds of videos of young men and women having so-called "bad trips."

Rice's parents found some of the drug in his room after he was hospitalized. They had no idea what "spice" was or that their 13-year-old had even used drugs.

As they fight for a transplant for their son, they hope he lives long enough to get one. Rice's parents want other parents and other teenagers to know how dangerous a so-called legal drug that can be bought locally can be.

Rice's situation is so serious his family considered taking him off the machines.

For now, they say they will wait and hope for a miracle.

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