Police Say They Can't Confiscate Some Synthetic Drugs
Legal Versions Of Cocaine, LSD, Ecstasy For Sale In Tenn.
Reported by Caroline Moses
POSTED: 4:29 pm CDT October 7, 2010
UPDATED: 7:58 pm CDT October 11, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. --
Dangerous, synthetic substitutes for illegal drugs are being sold over the counter at the corner store. Tennessee banned some of them but the Channel 4 I-Team found that others are back for sale and more potent than ever.
The I-Team reported on a substance several months ago often called K2 or K3, a substance meant to mimic marijuana. When state lawmakers found out about it, they banned it. But it turns out other synthetics were not banned. In fact, users said, the synthetics are even stronger than the old stuff. Police said they didn't even know it was being sold until the I-Team told them.
A white powder sold by the gram is for sale at stores across Middle Tennessee. It is labeled as an insect repellent named White Lightning or as bath salts named White Knight. Either way, it's packaged in almost the same label, with a lightning bolt down the middle. The products are sold behind the counter and on display with pipes, hookahs and measuring scales.
Both cost $61.98 per gram. Users, store owners and Gallatin police all said the white stuff is clearly intended to be, and is widely purchased as, a drug. Users compare its effects to cocaine, LSD or ecstasy. Even the name White Lightning is slang for LSD or moonshine.
“Do you guys have White Lightning?” the I-Team's undercover producer asked a store owner.
“Of course. (Have you) tried it before?” asked the store owner.
“No,” said the I-Team's producer.
“Have you heard about it?” asked the store owner.
“I’ve heard about it. Is it as good as ..." asked the producer.
“Better,” the store owner said.
“Really? What about K2? Do you have anything that was like K2?” asked the I-Team's producer.
The store owner nodded.
After the I-Team told Gallatin police what the I-Team found, police sent samples of both products to a lab. Test results showed the bath salt and the insect repellent were the exact same substance. Gallatin police are confident these products are neither. Police said they are intended to be used to get high.
“There's an effort there to circumvent, as I said before, and obviously that's going to be a concern for the department,” said Lt. Kate Novitsky.
The White Lightning and White Knight products are specifically banned in Kentucky. But in Tennessee, the powder and several other substances are still for sale.
The Tennessee law banning K2 names four specific chemicals and "any combination of chemical compounds that constitute synthetic cocaine." The white powder and several other products do not contain any of those chemicals, so according to Gallatin police, they can't stop stores from selling them.
“It appears that we're not going to be able to enforce that particular law in reference to these new items that are being sold,” said Novitsky.
“Do you feel like you all missed the mark in making the legislation, that it wasn't encompassing enough?” the I-Team asked Sen. Reginald Tate, D-Memphis.
“There is no way you can encompass newness,” Tate said.
The new products are significantly stronger than the old ones, according to an addict and his wife. They both asked that Channel 4 hide their identities while he works to recover and maintain a job.
“He's had addiction problems with other substances, but I’ve never seen him like this before,” said the addict’s wife.
The White Lightning and White Knight products do say on the label that they are "not for human consumption" and that it is a violation of federal law to use the product "inconsistent with its labeling."
After three months sober, the drug addict succumbed to temptation. The reason, he said, is the substance is legal and convenient. It comes from his neighborhood gas station, within walking distance of his home and right by Volunteer State Community College. But he said he has no doubt it's dangerous.
“That is the hardest drug I think I’ve ever done in my life,” said the addict.
He said snorting the powder causes hallucinations, elevated heartbeat and increased temperature. He is constantly thirsty and always wanting more, to make sure the feeling doesn't leave, he said. Police said this product is not detectable in most drug tests.
“To know that I was adhering to legal standards made it more acceptable for me to take those risks,” said the addict.
The store owner who sold the I-Team the white powder told the I-Team he knows people are using it to get high. But he said he makes a lot of money and said he will sell it as long as it is legal.
“The gas station was the most reliable drug dealer I’ve ever known,” said the addict.
Tate, who sponsored the state's earlier synthetic drug ban, said he will work to pass tighter legislation now that the I-Team brought this new issue to his attention.
"This is going to be an additional problem," said Tate.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is evaluating whether these kind of synthetic drugs should be controlled. It is testing the different products in labs now. In the next 18 to 24 months, it will send their recommendations to the FDA. Until then, it's up to states to regulate these products. Because the products are not yet considered controlled substances, potentially anything could be in them.
