This was a three-part investigative package, with all three running on the same day, where we explored Florida’s crackdown on the synthetic drug trade and its aftermath. While state and local officials were passing bans on synthetic marijuana and “bath salts” all the time, we were hearing that the now-illegal drugs were still available, both at convenience stores surreptitiously selling them and via the Internet. I casually visited dozens of gas stations and convenience stores in our area asking to buy some “fake weed,” and while most stores said the drugs were illegal and not available, I was able to purchase three packages of synthetic marijuana from one. The paper paid to have one of the packages tested, and it came up positive for a banned substance. Through my sources, we also located five teens willing to go on the record about their synthetic drug use, after getting their parents’ permission. They were critical in explaining to readers how damaging the drugs are, what their appeal is and how easy they are to get, despite the crackdown. And our experts were also helpful in explaining how South Florida was no only one of the top manufacturing hubs for synthetic marijuana, but that our local communities were leaders in attempting to solve the drug’s spread. The package comprises three stories: the mainbar, “Synthetic drugs a potent threat,” describing the overall problem, the crackdown and the problem that persists in its wake; and two sidebars: “Life and death of Mr. Nice Guy,” a profile of one of the country’s largest manufacturers of synthetic marijuana; and “Fake pot ‘changes your brain,’ users says,” detailing my conversations with five local teenagers about their synthetic drug use and why they found it so alluring.
