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.