What Is Drug-Soaked Paper and Why Is It Deadly in Jail?

A disturbing and increasingly lethal trend has emerged in jails and prisons across the country. Ordinary-looking paper is being soaked in synthetic cannabinoids and smuggled into facilities, where inmates smoke it by lighting small strips using a slow-burning wick made from toilet paper or fabric.

The drug most commonly identified in these cases is a synthetic cannabinoid called Pinaca. Unlike marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids are engineered chemicals that affect the brain far more intensely and unpredictably than natural cannabis. Narcan, the overdose reversal medication that works on opioids, has no effect on synthetic cannabinoid overdoses, which makes these situations extremely difficult for facility medical staff to treat in time.

Cook County Correctional Facility in Chicago documented six inmate deaths from drug-soaked paper in 2023 alone before detection and prevention measures began reducing fatalities. The paper looks completely ordinary and has no smell that drug-sniffing dogs can detect, making it exceptionally difficult to intercept through standard screening methods.

If someone you care about is incarcerated, the most important message is this: do not accept or smoke anything that comes in on paper from an unknown source. The risk is not an overdose in the traditional sense. It can be death within minutes.