The project pooled AP’s resources across departments for a nationwide, multiformat effort that not only named CBD products that are spiked with dangerous manmade drugs but also exposed some of the people behind them.
Responding to AP’s call for ambitious journalism in 2019, Holbrook “Bert” Mohr of the U.S. investigations team tossed out an idea during a brainstorming session: Authorities in Mississippi had found vapes containing fentanyl and synthetic marijuana in stores near Mohr’s home. What caught his eye was that the product was labeled as CBD.
Mohr asked his daughter if she’d heard anything about CBD vaping and she said high school kids were getting so high they’d pass out. Mohr reasoned that with CBD’s popularity taking off, CBD vapes spiked with street drugs might well be elsewhere. Thus began a collaboration by the Investigations and the Health and Science teams that would offer not just the exclusive results of laboratory testing — finding cheap and illegal synthetic marijuana instead of natural CBD in vapes and edibles — but also telling details about the people who bring dangerous products to market.
To assess the availability of spiked vapes, Mohr surveyed law enforcement in all 50 states and directed the gathering of 30 vape samples from four states and online. Those samples were tested at a well-credentialed lab. The reporting showed that whether a brand was spiked could depend on flavor and even location of purchase.
A Yolo! brand CBD oil vape cartridge sits alongside a vape pen on a biohazard bag at a park in Ninety Six, S.C., May 8, 2019. Jay Jenkins says two hits from the vape put him in a coma and nearly killed him in 2018. Lab testing commissioned by the AP shows this cartridge and several other vapes marketed as delivering CBD actually contained synthetic marijuana, a street drug commonly known as K2 or spice.
AP Photo / Allen G. Breed
Jay Jenkins holds a Yolo! brand CBD oil vape cartridge alongside a vape pen at a park in Ninety Six, S.C., May 8, 2019. Jenkins says two hits from the vape put him in a coma and nearly killed him in 2018. Lab testing commissioned by the AP showed the vape contained a synthetic marijuana compound blamed for at least 11 deaths in Europe. Jenkins was interviewed as part of an AP investigation into the dark side to the booming CBD industry, in which some people are cashing in by substituting cheap and illegal synthetic marijuana for the natural cannabis extract.
AP Photo / Allen G. Breed
A researcher holds a Yolo! brand CBD vape oil cartridge and its packaging at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore., July 17, 2019. Authorities blamed Yolo for sending people to emergency rooms in Utah, saying it contained a dangerous synthetic marijuana. The cartridge pictured here was provided to the AP by Jay Jenkins, a South Carolina man who says he nearly died after puffing it. Testing commissioned by AP shows it contained the same synthetic marijuana that caused the illnesses in Utah.
AP Photo / Ted Warren
A Magic Puff electronic cigarette and its packaging are displayed in Los Angeles, July 17, 2019. The product is labeled as a disposable hemp pen and was being sold in July at a store in Panama City, Fla., as delivering the cannabis extract CBD. Testing commissioned by the AP found it actually contained synthetic marijuana, a dangerous street drug commonly known as K2 or spice.
AP Photo / Damian Dovarganes
A Green Machine “Jungle Juice” flavored CBD vape pod is displayed in its package in Los Angeles, July 17, 2019. The AP commissioned a laboratory to test CBD vapes purchased around the country, including seven Green Machine pods bought at stores in California, Florida and Maryland; four of the pods contained synthetic marijuana, a dangerous street drug commonly known as K2 or spice.
AP Photo / Damian Dovarganes
A Green Machine brand CBD vape pod is weighed during testing at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore., July 18, 2019. As part of an investigation into CBD vapes, The AP commissioned the lab to test vape products purchased around the country, including seven Green Machine pods bought at stores in California, Florida and Maryland. Four of the Green Machine pods contained synthetic marijuana, a dangerous street drug commonly known as K2 or spice.
AP Photo / Ted Warren
Katarina Maloney, CEO of Mathco Health Corporation, which sells products made with the cannabis extract CBD, poses in her company’s offices in Carlsbad, Calif., Aug. 27, 2019. Documents filed in a California court by a former employee, as well as interviews with two other former employees, link Maloney’s company to Yolo! brand CBD vape oil, a product that authorities blamed for sickening people in 2017 and 2018 because it was spiked with dangerous synthetic marijuana. Maloney said Mathco does not “engage in the manufacture, distribution or sale of any illegal products,” and said the company can’t control what happens to products once they are shipped.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Researchers work at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore., July 18, 2019. At the AP’s request the lab tested 30 vape products sold around the country as CBD, targeting brands that law enforcement or users flagged as suspect. Ten of the 30 samples contained synthetic marijuana, a street drug commonly known as K2 or spice.
AP Photo / Ted Warren
Pierce Prozy prepares a CBD vape oil test sample at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore., on July 19, 2019. The test commissioned by the AP revealed that some are exploiting the booming demand for CBD by substituting cheap and illegal synthetic marijuana for natural CBD.
AP Photo / Ted Warren
Pierce Prozy examines a Yolo! brand CBD vape oil cartridge at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore., on July 19, 2019. The cartridge contained synthetic marijuana, a dangerous street drug commonly known as K2 or spice.
AP Photo / Ted Warren
A Yolo! brand CBD vape oil cartridge is examined at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore., July 17, 2019. The cartridge contained synthetic marijuana, a dangerous street drug commonly known as K2 or spice.
AP Photo / Ted Warren
Following spiked products up the supply chain led to several memorable characters, including one whom enterprise reporter Juliet Linderman bird-dogged in Manhattan. Another in Southern California walked out during a videotaped interview. The accompanying video, shot and edited by Raleigh’s Allen Breed with essential contributions by Los Angeles video journalist Krysta Fauria and Seattle photographer Ted Warren, was a key addition to a package that also had important contributions by Dallas investigative reporter Reese Dunklin and New York researcher Rhonda Shafner.
On a busy news day, “Spiked CBD” broke through. It was easily the top story on AP News, and Mohr’s bylined story appeared on the front page of at least 23 newspapers; it was teased on the front of nearly 100 others. The play was bolstered by briefs tailored to 11 states where testing found spiked vapes. Mohr also did five media interviews. The first was on “CNN Newsroom,” a nice nod to Mohr, who had learned that CNN was working on its own documentary on the subject.
For identifying and leading a collaborative investigative project that connected with customers and readers, Mohr receives this week’s Best of the States award.