Law Enforcement Playing Whac-a-Mole with Synthetic Drugs

Law enforcement officers around the state are finding out just how difficult it may be to fight a war on so-called synthetic drugs. They’re sold in convenience stores under labels like bath salts and plant food. While the legislature outlawed a list of substances earlier this year, new versions continue to crop up.

It’s like a game of Whac-a-Mole, says Trey King, an investigator with the Tennessee Attorney General. He’s been meeting with police departments around the state to explain what they should be looking for. King says the law is still catching up with the drug makers, who are in places like China and India.

“It’s not proactive. You’re more reactive. Say Oxycotin. Every time you would find a synthetic version of Oxycotin, you’d always have to go back and add that as a new version or a new offense.”

King says he expects the legislature will have to expand its list of known synthetic drugs when the General Assembly reconvenes next year.

Some of the synthetics are even more dangerous than the real thing, says King.

“People are smoking it saying its fake weed or this is safe marijuana if you will. You know these chemicals they are putting in there is 100 to 800 times more potent than what you’d find in just a regular marijuana leaf.”

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has cracked down on some retailers after giving them a warning when the law went into effect. Earlier this fall, a sting in Rutherford County netted 23,000 packets of synthetic drugs. However, no one was arrested. Selling the plant foods and bath salts remains only a misdemeanor offense.