Fake Pot Laced with Rat Poison Causes Three Deaths According to Time, On Tuesday, Illinois reported seven more cases, raising the nationwide total to 116. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly working with authorities in the state to discover the source of the outbreak. Both the CDC and the state confirmed that several patients and samples of the fake pot tested positive for the lethal chemical. Symptoms include coughing up blood, severe bloody noses, bleeding gums, internal bleeding and more. The CDC reported there have been at least 456 cases of illnesses from fake marijuana between 2010 and 2015.