Operation Synful Smoke

Beat Intro
Voiceover
00:00	This is the Beat – a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest 
community policing topics facing our nation.

 Interview
TeNeane Bradford
00:08	Hello and welcome. My name is TeNeane Bradford, and on behalf of the COPS 
Office, I’d like to introduce to you, Trey King, Investigator with the Law 
Enforcement and Special Prosecutions Division of the Tennessee Attorney 
General's Office. He’s here today to talk with us about the growing problem and 
emerging threat of synthetic drug use. Mr. King, can you start by telling us what 
we mean by “synthetic drugs” – what they are?

Trey King
00:32	Yes ma’am. Synthetic drugs are manmade substances that are being synthesized 
by chemists all over the world that mimic certain scheduled drugs or are 
analogues and derivatives of those scheduled substances. For example, synthetic 
methcathinone-based substances, which are central nervous system stimulants, 
are usually dispersed in powder form or in single component tablets and capsules. 
Abusers of these drugs typically either ingest, inhale, inject, smoke, or snort the 
drugs to experience stimulant effects similar to those induced by amphetamines. 
Meaning that these synthetic methcathinone-based drugs produce other stimulant 
effects that appear to be similar to cocaine, methamphetamines, or MDMA, 
which is Ecstasy. 

Another example of synthetic drugs would be synthetic cannibanoids. Synthetic 
cannibanoids are synthetic chemicals that are functionally similar to THC, the 
primary cannibanoid found in marijuana. These types of substances are 
structurally related to THC or bind to the cannibanoid receptors in the brain. 
Some of these synthetic chemicals may be anywhere from 10 to 800 times more 
potent than what you would find in regular marijuana. Abusers of these types of 
drugs typically smoke or inhale these substances to experience effects similar to 
that induced by marijuana.

TeNeane
01:49	Wow! That would lead to the next question which is that we’re hearing that 
physicians and doctors are seeing alarming increases in the amount of patients 
being treated for synthetic drug use, and also that poison control centers have 
seen a huge spike in calls relating to the synthetic drugs that you just described. 
Can you share your perspective on those changes and increases?



Trey
02:10	Sure. From what we understand, according to some of the physicians treating 
patients that are coming into the emergency rooms, they’re noticing young 
teenagers, whether male or female, anywhere from 15 to 18 years of age coming 
in with heart rates of anywhere from 205 beats per minute and above that’s 
showing them the signs of cardiac arrest. Other patients are coming in with body 
core temperatures ranging anywhere from 103 to 117. The majority of what 
they’re seeing is 103 to 108. There’s also very high blood pressure coming in with 
it. There could be the result of seizures, a lot of hallucinations. We’ve seen a 
number of suicidal ideations as a result of users using this type of synthetic-based 
chemicals or drugs. I think it just varies. 

There’s not a whole lot of medical studies currently underway to study the 
effects of these on the body so very little is known about the toxicology or the 
pharmacological effects these drugs have on the body.

TeNeane
03:101	Wow! What effect are these drugs having on our communities?

Trey
03:14	From Tennessee’s perspective here and from what we know in the U.S., 
authorities here in Tennessee and across the country basically have discovered 
that these synthetic drugs are rapidly growing in popularity and are being sold 
broadly to young consumers all the way from music festivals to local convenience 
stores. While these products are labeled “not for human consumption” or as 
“dietary supplements”, they are basically being widely promoted on the internet 
and in online chat rooms as legal alternatives to Ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana, or 
other controlled substances. A number of these internet-based advertisements 
and the displays of these products in local convenience stores are targeting young 
people with flashy symbols, often with bright colors on the packaging. They are 
often marketed under harmless-sounding names such as bath salts, plant food, 
potpourri, herbal incense, relaxation drinks, relaxation pills, capsules, or powders. 
However, they are anything but harmless often putting the user, as we just said 
before, in the hospital with severe physical or psychological side effects. The 
abusers of these drugs also seem to have a false sense of security relating to the 
harmful effects these drugs pose due to the fact that they are being sold over the 
counter or online. 

TeNeane
04:26	I see. What has law enforcement’s response been?

Trey
04:30	The increase in popularity of these types of drugs and the ability of chemists to 
create “legal highs” made it clearer than ever before that the efforts to reduce 
consumption must accompany interdiction, seizure, arrests, and conviction. The 
enforcement problem, however, is that these new synthetic drugs attempt to 
circumvent our criminal laws by squeezing between and around the statutory 
definition of what illegal drugs are. Legislative efforts on all fronts, both state 
and federal, must be made in order to address the constant morphing or changing 
of these synthetic chemicals. I believe almost every state in the U.S. has 
regulated, controlled, or criminalized these types of synthetic drugs or has 
legislation currently pending. For those out there that wanted to know what their 
states’ laws currently are on drug use, there’s a website called the National 
Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, www.namsdl.org. They can go there and 
find what their states currently have relating to synthetic drugs and the criminal 
penalties that would apply. 
	
TeNeane
05:37	In addition to legislation or pending legislation, what actually is happening out 
there, in terms of the field, to suppress the selling of these drugs, as a result of that 
legislation?
		
Trey
05:50	Sure. We had an operation here in Tennessee that was called “Operation Synful 
Smoke.” This was a joint operation between the Tennessee Attorney General’s 
Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s 
Department here in Tennessee, the Murfreesboro City Police Department in 
Tennessee, the Smyrna Police Department in Tennessee, and the LaVergne Police 
Department in Tennessee. This operation took place between June and August of 
2011. Undercover agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation made over 
100 visits to over 60 different convenience stores in Rutherford County. This is a 
small bedroom community outside of Nashville, Tennessee. The agents purchased 
products suspected of containing any illegal substances and those products were 
submitted to the TBI crime lab for identification and analysis. During this 
investigation more than 50 unique brands were purchased and tested, concluding 
that each one of those 50 brand drugs were actually illegal substances under our 
synthetic drug laws. In almost every example, the stores selling their products 
were visited multiple times where these products were purchased and/or viewed 
in plain sight. Many of the products were openly displayed inside glass cases 
which also contained drug paraphernalia such as pipes, dugouts, grinders, bongs, 
or hookahs. With this information we were able to get 36 search warrants. All 36 
were executed on the same day, on September 7, 2011. Based on the items that 
were seized, law enforcement seized over 21,000 packages of synthetic drugs 
and over $44,000 in cash.

TeNeane
07:27	Are business owners aware of the synthetic drugs that they are putting in their 
stores? Are we educating our community and business members about these types 
of drugs that are being sold in plain sight?


Trey
07:43	Sure. I think there have been efforts made, whether it’s through the newspapers 
or the media outlets, typically advising what synthetic drugs are, whether it’s 
incense, spice, potpourri, those that mimic marijuana, or bath salts, plant food, 
jewelry cleaner, pipe cleaner, whatever you want to talk about, that mimic 
Ecstasy and/or cocaine. A lot of these types of drugs are going to cost more than 
their counterparts. For example, the bath salt craze that hit. Typically, an 
individual could go to Walgreens and buy what they would consider bath salts in 
a box of Epsom salts that are roughly 4 lbs. Now we’re talking about the 
synthetic drug so the user’s going into the store and they’re buying bath salts and 
it’s only a 350 mg capsule or powder. If you were converting that to show the 
cost, where our agents went in and bought these bath salts in a 350 mg capsule, 
we paid $12 to $15 for that capsule. When we bought a box of bath salts from, 
say, Walgreens or CVS or any sort of pharmacy store, we paid $4.99 for four 
pounds. If you converted that, and this was a legitimate product, and you 
converted the 4 lbs of the Epsom salts into grams, which is a little over 1,800 and 
some odd grams, you convert that, you would see a cost difference if you 
weighed it at the same price. $12 for 350 mg is a true product and you put that 
into perspective with a 4-lb box, that box of bath salts wouldn’t cost you $4.99, 
it would cost you $62,000. They’re selling it for the same price that you would 
see any other illegal substance being sold.

TeNeane
09:21	I see. So what resources are needed locally to begin to try to address this 
emerging threat?

Trey
09:29	Facilitating communication and collaboration between law enforcement and the 
medical community will be crucial in providing the necessary awareness and 
training needed to educate their respective communities about the dangers 
associated with these different types of substances. Discouraging and reducing 
consumption is crucial to protecting our community. And getting the word out to 
how destructive, deadly, and totally unpredictable in terms of health risk these 
new chemical compounds can be is a task to which, I think, we all must commit 
to. For example, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported in 
September, 2011 that synthetic drugs are the second most widely used illegal 
substance worldwide, behind cannabis and ahead of heroin and cocaine. 
Unfortunately this is an area where Tennessee seems to be following international 
trends and I suspect it may be true in other jurisdictions as well.

TeNeane
10:20	Thank you so much, Trey, for providing us with your expertise and your time. The 
COPS Office really appreciates your time.

Trey
10:27	Thank you very much.


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