comcast business. built for business. thank you so much for joining me. don't forget, you can follow me on twitter, if you can spell smerconish. see you next week. the following is a cnn special report. i don't think he's breathing at all. >> we need somebody now. >> he started to foam at the mouth. convulsing uncontrollably. >> this is the only time we have reached out to a school system, university, and said, hey, there is this danger on the streets. >> deadly new drugs on america's streets. >> it's nothing like i've had before. the trees look like cauliflower dancing around. >> and to maximize profit.

>> we process, you know, 40 to $50,000 a month with credit cards. >> imported into the u.s. by mail. and sold online. >> he set up a large-scale drug trafficking organization by using a computer. >> that to me is scary. >> this stuff is not safe. just because you can order it on the internet. >> most people still don't know what they are. they'll kill your kids. >> tonight, the new drug threat, a deadly high. there is a kid laying on the sidewalk. he looks like he's been beat up. >> 911. >> yeah. there was a guy lying face-down, looked like he was passed out, with no shoes on. >> when the officers arrived, they found mr. beer lying face-down on the sidewalk. they found the other victim.

it was reported that he was sitting on the grass, yelling in a parked car, acting incoherently. >> on the morning of june 11, 2012, police in grand forks, north dakota, were facing a new threat on this city's streets. >> and then you found this other guy in the car. >> correct. >> naked? >> he was naked, yeah. >> the naked teenager and the young man yelling at the car would live. but police already knew the young man lying face-down on the sidewalk was dead. and in the small city of grand forks, they also knew who he was. >> he teared up and i didn't know what was going on. and i said what's the matter and he said it's christian. and i said what, and he said he's deceased. and he just hung his head. and you know, there's moments you just don't forget. >> christian bork was a star

high school football player. the police officer who came to notify his parents, keith and debby, had been christian's youth football coach. >> it never occurred to me it would be anything like this. and he said -- then he told me, we don't know. we just found him. i said, well, what? what do you mean? i said, did somebody kill him? and he looked at me and -- we don't know, keith. i can't tell you anything. >> keith saw his son just the night before, june 10th, 2012. it was 11:00 at night. >> he was going to run out to a gas station. he said, i'll be right back. i said, okay. i'll see you in the morning, son. and i gave him a hug and kiss good night. >> i was watching tv on the couch. and he picked me up and shook me like that, and said "love you dad, i'll be right back." >> his parents would later learn that at the gas station, christian ran into a friend and ended up going to a house party. his body would be found a short distance away.

what killed this healthy 18-year-old was a mystery that was about to strike this small midwest community again. >> we need an ambulance. we have a kid here who is not breathing. >> okay. where is it at? >> east grand forks. i don't think he's breathing at all there. >> no, he's dead. we need somebody now. >> can you start cpr with him? >> it was three days before eli's birthday. >> he would be 18. >> he wanted to go to grand forks to see his cousin and spend time there with justin. >> melissa katz's son elijah, was in grand forks to celebrate an upcoming birthday. he was with his foster brother, justin. >> what were you planning that weekend? >> not a whole lot. just hang out, basically. >> they would find themselves hanging out and sleeping over at the home of a cousin's boyfriend. neither had known 18-year-old adam budge. but he seemed nice. budge said he had a special

treat, a bag of chocolate, that he had cooked with a white powder he said was extract from psychedelic mushrooms. >> he just gave eli and i the bag and said here you go. have fun. we just kind of started taking bites out of it. just eating it. it tasted just like chocolate. it didn't taste anything bad. no chemical taste or anything. it was just chocolate. and we just ended up splitting the bag. it was nothing like anything i've had before. i was kind of scared, but i was like reassuring myself, and my subconscious that it's just mushrooms. it's just mushrooms. >> it wasn't just psychedelic mushrooms. it was something much worse. and for justin, it was already too late to stop what was about to happen. >> do you remember what was happening, what you were seeing? >> the trees looked like cauliflowers dancing around. they were stationary still, but swaying really funny, and the

sidewalks were swooping up and down like a roller coaster and the grass shooting up to the sky and dropping back down. >> you were really tripping. >> yeah, i was like, oh, my god, you know. like this is getting really intense. >> downstairs, elijah was beginning to convulse. >> adam was already down there with eli. he had told me that eli was going into a bad trip. and i asked him, do we need to call 911. and he was like, no, it's just mushrooms, he's going to be fine. he's just going into a bad trip. >> he started to i guess foam at the mouth. yelling. i guess he was hitting his head. just convulsing uncontrollably. >> finally, the police were called. >> i started to assist with cpr. but the effects of the drugs, i -- wasn't able to do it. his face started to contort because of the drugs. and -- it really -- really messed me up. i told him i was going to wait outside for 911 to direct him

in. because i couldn't see him like that. i was -- >> he was dead. >> he was dead. yeah. >> we got the phone call that eli wasn't breathing, he was blue in the face. >> you had to call your mom. >> i called her when i was outside waiting for 911. >> and told her? >> told her eli died. >> were you able to fully tell her why? >> no. i was ashamed of myself for failing him, more or less. i felt like i had failed him. >> justin was a teen when elijah's family had taken him in, raised hip as their own. >> after everything he had done for me, eli was lying there dead, and i was alive. >> elijah suffered multiple organ failures and went into cardiac arrest. cutting the oxygen supply to his

brain. >> when i got to the hospital, doctors said eli was brain dead. he was in the hospital for three days. he was on life support. so we had to make the call to disconnect him. >> there were now two dead. teenagers overdosing and dying from a deadly drug. and no one knew what it was or where it was coming from. do i need to have a certain amount? nope, now you can redeem your cashback for any amount, any time. that's great. yeah, you can use it for a statement credit or even get the cash. nice. i could use that extra cash for a last-minute gift... one less thing hanging over your head, right? tell me about it. (to guy.) gary, you got to go. who's gary? a mistake from last year coming back around again... too much egg nog! yes! laaaaa... at discover we treat you like you'd treat you. now redeem your cashback for any amount, any time.

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into one you'll never forget. earn triple points when you book with the expedia app. expedia plus rewards. in the week of june 10th, 2012, law enforcement in grand forks were dealing with an outbreak of violent overdoses, a mystery drug on the streets had already killed two teenagers. >> we've got multiple overdoses, we've got two young men that have lost their lives. what's more serious than that? >> tim purduen is a u.s. attorney for north dakota.

>> i was unprecedented. i've been u.s. attorney now for going on four years. this is the only time we've reached out to a school system, to a university and said, hey, there this danger on the streets right now people need to be worried about. >> investigators were despera desperately trying to figure out what this drug was, and more importantly, where it came from. >> it took lab analysis to determine the true nature of these substances. when we learned what they were, that was new to us. >> 2 cinbome and 2 ccnbome are synthetic designer drugs, chemicals designed to imitate the high of the banned drug, lsd. these drugs are so potent, a dose the size of a few grains of salt is enough to get high. north dakota's top federal drug prosecutor had never heard of them, and neither had christian burke's parents.

>> i had to go to the internet and look up information on it. and i really didn't understand the whole synthetic drug. i didn't know what it was. i didn't know how dangerous they were. >> the message we got after we went on the internet was that somebody had said it was okay for these drugs to be on the street. and they had been tweaked. but that's all we knew. >> synthetic lsd has been blamed for at least -- >> parents across the country are now learning the painful truth about synthetic designer drugs. >> investigators say he overdosed on a synthetic -- oth >> reports and overdoses reported almost daily. >> 16-year-old -- >> abruptly ended at just 18 years old. >> these drugs are being marketed and sold as legality actives to marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, lsd and heroin.

>> in the last four years, more than 300 synthetic designer drugs with names like spice, n-bomb and bath salts have flooded into the united states. even the popular club drug, molly, which is marketed as a pure form of the drug ecstasy, is being replaced by a variety of synthetic compounds. according to dea scientists, the highs may be the same, but the molecular structure is modified just enough to evade the law. >> these chemical companies are altering the compound ever so slightly to avoid our laws here in the united states. once they alter that chemical, it is no longer a controlled substance. >> so it's a game. >> it is. >> these drugs are particularly dangerous because users can't be sure what they're getting. >> we have seen packages that have the exact same label, the exact same brand, same flavoring that are sent to at the exact

same time that have completely different drugs in them. >> almost every state and the federal government have passed laws outlawing specific chemical formulas sold as synthetic drugs. but the manufacturers are staying one step ahead of law enforcement. >> these chemical companies anticipate future law enforcement actions, whether it be new laws, and they have a new chemical compound that is ready to take the place of the drugs that we control. >> in the new world of drug dealing, chemicals are manufactured overseas, sold online in bulk, and imported into the u.s. they are then assembled, packaged and sold as research chemicals. labeled "not for human consumption" to avoid prosecution. >> is there any legitimate industrial purpose for those chemicals? >> we are not aware of any legitimate industrial or medical use for these item chemicals. >> you can buy synthetic drugs

on hundreds of websites that say it's all legal. we did. the cost? around $30 a packet. >> afghan black ultra. collector's item, not for human consumption is what it says on this product description. >> we sent these collector's items to kay minute chemical a lab in ann arbor, michigan. all of them contained dangerous chemicals. >> that is the hallucinogen. and according to greg andrews, only a lab test can determine exactly what's inside. >> we found a variety of substances, including synthetic can ab noids, in one case a hallucinogenic transcript owe mean. all considered designer drugs. >> how dangerous is this stuff? from a chemical compound situation? >> quite dangerous. there is a whole variety of reported effects, ranging from rapid or irregular heartbeat,

hallucinogenic effects, seizures, psychosis, several reported suicides. >> and in grand forks, north dakota, the deaths of elijah sty and christian bjerk. it turns out the drugs that killed elijah and christian arrived in grand forks by mail. purchased over the internet by a local drug dealer. >> he was one of the primary sources of supply for analog controlled substances in this area. >> but finding that dealer would turn out to be only the beginning in unraveling this deadly mystery, which was about to take yet another turn. [announcer] welcome to the re-imagined quickbooks.

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as police were learning more about the synthetic drugs that killed two teens in grand forks, north dakota, it was someone in that small city who was somewhat of an expert. andr andrew spofr, a local drug dealer who along with marijuana and cocaine, was also selling chemicals he bought on the internet. the synthetic drugs that killed christian bjerk and elijah sty came wrapped, stamped and delivered to his door. >> he had a fairly good working knowledge of the substances, the potency of the substances, and what dosage unit would be common for typical user amounts. >> what spofrd didn't know was he was getting ripped off. a crime that would set off a deadly chain of events. one of his customers, adam budge, had broken into spofrd's home and stolen a bag of white powder without knowing exactly

what was inside that bag, or just how potent it was. budge melted the powder into chocolate that he gave to his new friends, including elijah sty. budge also sold some of the same drug to a young man who would share it with christian bjerk. >> adam budge early on in the investigation was the common link between these two overdose victims. so adam budge prepared the 2 cimbome into chocolate and he and eli sty consumed some of those chocolates, and eli sty died from them. >> 1,400 miles away from a suburb of houston, texas. a father and entrepreneur named charles carlton was oblivious to the fact that an unraveling chain of events in grand forks was about to turn his world upside down. >> i always kind of enjoyed the psychedelic experience. and it started with

experimenting with lsd in high school. and then i started ordering you know, what people would call designer drugs off the internet, and just experimenting with those. and you know, just realized that, you know, there is -- there was money to be made in, you know, distributing them in small quantities. >> carlton had an idea to turn his passion for synthetic alose generals into a business. he would limit his customers to those like him, knowledgeable and interested in experimenting with synthetic highs. his company, motion resources, with its website called motion research, would be a boutique drug dealership for enthusiasts. >> we could put in people's hands things that they wouldn't be able to get otherwise. but it was turning into a real business that -- you could at

least make a go of it. >> absolutely. >> though the company's product mimicked the illegal drug lsd, carlton says the chemicals he was selling weren't yet scheduled or banned in the united states. he set up shop in this office building, even registered with the secretary of state, and went to work. >> i was an employee of my own company, getting a w-2. we had full payroll services. it was as legitimate as it could be. we knew we were walking a very fine line as far as the law was concerned. but at the time we thought we were on the right side of it. >> without so much as leaving his computer, carlton says he and his two colleagues were repackaged chemicals they bought in bulk, filling 30 to 40 orders a day. >> it's fairly easy to find chemical suppliers. the product sells itself. generally as much of it as you can get, you can get rid of

pretty quickly. >> motion resources had customers in all 50 states, and profits were rolling in. >> carlton was not unlike any other drug trafficker. he is looking for the best product at the lowest price. and so he would obtain this product from the best suppliers he could find. >> what is a little different is that he was able to do all of this in the comfort of his own study in his house. >> right. >> basically, he set up this business from a computer that was hooked up to the internet. >> right. he set up a large-scale drug trafficking organization by using a computer. >> that, to me, is scary. >> it is scary, because of the ability to mass market their product to an enormous customer base you said the guise of a legitimate business. >> carlton felt that guise of a legitimate business would hold up in court.

as long as his customers agreed to defray stamped on every package he sent out that none of what he was selling would actually be consumed. >> so what was the phrase? >> for analytical and research purposes only. >> what would be that purpose, other than to consume it and to experience a high? >> well, that's a good question. i mean, make no mistake, we knew people were consuming it. i honestly don't know how it grew so fast. but it got to the point where we would process 40 to $50,000 a month in credit card payments. >> i mean, at that point, you thought, hey, i've got a legitimate shop running here? >> i did. >> it was all going so well, motion resources was up and running for eight months. >> grand forks police were called -- >> until one day, carlton saw a story on the news about drug overdoses in grand forks, north dakota. >> i saw a news story where there was an overdose death in

north dakota. and then pretty quickly, there was a tv news report. and they showed a baggie that said 25-nbo on it. and we had very special bags, and we had a label maker that printed clear labels and it was blatantly obvious that it was ours. >> what was your immediate reaction? >> i -- i was in shock. i -- i have kids, you know? that's not -- we didn't want anything like that to happen. and, i mean, that's the only reaction i had. i mean, i don't even know how to describe it. >> did you go to work the next day? >> well, i did.

>> carlton says he didn't want to draw attention. so he continued to run motion resources as if nothing had happened. he says he was trying to sell off his supply, shut the business down. but the prosecutor says there is evidence carlton was in the process of changing the business name. allegedly to keep motion resources running. carlton admits he was sweating. with good reason. his world was about to crumble by a betrayal on the inside. ♪

♪ ♪

we're for an opens you internet for all.sing. we're for creating more innovation and competition. we're for net neutrality protection. now, here's some news you may find even more surprising. we're comcast. the only isp legally bound by full net neutrality rules.

in texas, charles carlton was living in fear. he knew he had some the drugs that killed two teens in north dakota. because he shipped them to one of his clients in grand forks named andrew spofrd. >> at any time along the way, before the deaths, did you consider, i've got to stop this? >> we didn't. you know, it was -- it was the cause of probably quite a few arguments between my wife and i. she didn't want to have anything to do with it, and she didn't want me to have anything to do with it. and i should have listened to her advice. >> at one point, i think she destroyed your office. >> she did. >> she had had enough.

>> she had. >> she knew you were doing wrong. >> she did. and so did i. >> carlton says he was becoming paranoid. he had good reason. one of his colleagues, a man named harry george mikolas, suddenly quit, and records were missing. and grand forks federal prosecutor chris myers got a phone call that would crack the case. >> before we heard of motion resources, his partner contacted our office through his lawyer and indicated to us that he could explain the entire conspiracy to us. >> mikolas would avoid prosecution, but charles carlton would not be so lucky. and when police raided the office of motion resources and carlton's home, they found this critical piece of evidence. proof that carlton's guise of legitimacy that his drugs were being sold for research, was all just a cover for their real

purpose. in his own hand, carlton was detailing how to use his drugs and just how dangerous they could be. >> it was a journal documenting these substances being used by mr. carlton and friends of mr. carlton and the effects and the various amounts of the substances and how they would affect the body. and that was powerful evidence to show that they knew full well what these substances would do and then formed this company to sell them. >> carlton decided not to fight, and has pled guilty to three counts. possession with intent to distribute controlled substance analog. money laundering and misbranding. it could send him to prison for life. >> i can't justify anything that i did. and i don't intend to. i mean, the only thing i hope to do is let as many people know as possible that no matter how hard you try to be safe, no matter

how hard you think you have it or well you think you have it under control, the -- somebody is going to get hurt. or even die. it -- these chemicals are so dangerous, all it takes is for someone to just have some of it and not know what they have. >> yet you did think that you thought you were smart enough to handle it and smart enough to think that your customers knew what the hell they were doing. >> that's right. >> he is the 15th person so far to be prosecuted under the north dakota federal drug case, now called operation stolen youth. that began with the deaths of christian bjerk and elijah sty. andrew spoffard, who bought the drugs online from carlton, the teen who bought the drugs from budge and shared them with christian bjerk and several low-level dealers are all behind

bars. >> fans, let's hear it one more time for our 2011 senior athletes and trainers. >> yeah, i know exactly what he was saying to me. he was actually telling me he was hungry and he wanted to eat right after the game. he was going to go out with some friends and get a sandwich. >> and at the hearings and sentencings, debby bjerk has been there to speak about her son, christian, and to play this video. >> it put a human being behind a name. it's one thing to read a name on a sheet of paper that, you know, this person died. it's another thing to see actual footage of them, you know, talking, walking, being with their family. >> she will be there when charles carlton is sentenced. >> you will, upon sentencing, see and hear from those parents. >> i will. >> undoubtedly, christian's mom

is going to play that video of her son. have you thought about how you're going to handle that moment? >> i haven't. i -- i mean, i've thought about the moment. but i haven't necessarily thought about how i'm going to handle it. that will be the same moment, theoretically, you'll have to say goodbye to your kids. >> well, it's not -- it's not the same. me saying goodbye to my kids, i'm going to be down the street. i'll be back in a little while, is completely different than the kind of goodbye they had to give to their kids. their kids aren't coming back. >> go to mommy. >> carlton's wife, susan, knows, even a reduced sentence means she will raise their two young children alone. >> you will then be there to see the mothers of the two boys who

died. and hear their story about their sons who are no longer here. do you who will your husband responsible for that? >> got entirely. not entirely. not entirely. i can't. i hate that he was a part of this. my heart does go out to those mothers. he just simply should have never, ever happened. >> the case is about to come to a final conclusion for charles carlton. he and his wife have arrived in grand forks, and are about to head into the federal courthouse to face his fate. but with all the arrests and criminal cases, the major source of synthetic drugs remains untouched. the big fish is getting away.

>> ultimately, it has to stop with the manufacturing facility over in china. and they're nothing more than industrial-grade chemicals. >> not dangerous, not poisonous. i can... order safety goggles. play music for seedlings. post science fair projects. schedule guinea pig feedings. video chemical reactions. take pics of mr. bones. time the next launch. calm down principal jones. i can do all that

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there is a new drug war under way. at los angeles international, the new battle is trying to intercept synthetic designer drugs. customs inspectors open and test suspicious packages, looking for what's not listed on custom forms. this package claims to contain

plastic. it turns out to be bath salts. a chemically produced synthetic stimulant that mimics meth. >> it's an analog of meth alone, which is a scheduled controlled substance. so this can be treated as a scheduled controlled substance. >> and it came from the country that according to the dea is manufacturing and shipping most of the synthetic drugs worldwide. >> from china, mainland china. >> it's no secret to law enforcement where it comes from. and it's no secret to drug dealers seeking to become entrepreneurs in the new world of designer drugs. >> any laboratory in china, if you send them what's called a cast number, a number to every substance that exists, as long

as it's not scheduled, they will manufacture it for you, specifically. it's called a custom synthesis, and ship it to you. >> charles carlton, who sold the drugs that killed elijah sty and christian bjerk, says he used the internet to buy much of his supply in bulk from china. >> there are a lot of brokers as well. like he'll order from a guy in poland, and receive a package from china. and . >> and is it all labeled for research chemical, not for human consumption, when you get it? >> for the most part, yes. >> shanghai, china's largest city. its towering waterfront and bustling streets. it is also home to chemical companies churning out synthetics or pure poison. in the emerging global market of the synthetic drug world, the shanghai region is the epicenter.

this is the office of a synthetic drug dealer. undercover video taken by a french documentary film maker of a bragging drug entrepreneur claiming to supply the world with his manufactured highs. >> this stuff reports pv 8, popular in the russian market. people take it, and put it in mouth or nose. it's okay. >> this tour is a sales pitch. the undercover reporter is pretending to be a buyer. >> safe. >> how -- >> not dangerous. not poisonous. >> it's k2. it's famous in america. not for human consumption.

how all stuff works. your design, your logo, what kind of size of packing you want. we can send to you. it's more safe than directly from china. we handle all the logistics. if the package is lost, we resend. again. >> for free. >> for free. so that's our guarantee. i have already gone through $60 million on this market. so, you see, we are not small ones. >> what is the u.s. doing about this? negotiating. >> when i visited china and began no negotiations over a year ago with our chinese counterpar counterparts, it was about these are not under the control of china law. >> gill kerrlowcowski is president obama's former drug czar. he says he has been working with the chinese to ban the manufacture of synthetic drugs in china. >> so we said, you should really

consider placing these under your mandates, because they're clearly being designed to harm people. >> is it enough to just ask china to do this? >> no, i think that we were very strong about the concerns. i think china recognized too they have a lot of chemical plants. they do a lot of export. we have to be closer in our ties and closer in our communication with them about where these drugs are coming. >> according to the u.s. drug enforcement administration, china has made some arrests and has recently banned 11 synthetic substances. cnn cannot confirm china is doing anything. for months, cnn has requested visa's for a cnn investigative team to travel to shang eye. there have been continuous requests by chinese officials for additional information, but the visas have not been granted. requests for an interview or comment from china's ambassador

here in the u.s. have gone unanswered. >> this is the funeral to eli. >> melissa katz, elijah sty's mother, doesn't understand what there is to negotiate. chinese factories are making a fortune, she says, selling poison. >> what would you like to say to them? >> how dare you come into my country and sell drugs to our children. >> do you think they care? >> no. they don't care. >> cnn has learned the synthetic drugs that killed melissa's son, elijah, and christian bjerk, were most likely made in china. and so far, there appears to be no movement by the u.s. to find and prosecute the manufacturer of this synthetic poison. chris myers, the federal prosecutor in this case, will not discuss the source of the chemicals. and that is not good enough for

debby and keith bjerk. >> i would like to know the fame of the factory where these drugs were manufactured. >> you don't know the name of the factory. >> no, i have not been told the name of the factory. >> do they know it? >> i'm sure they do. and i would like to, you know -- i said, what can i do, write letters, whatever. and i've been told that -- >> it's like -- >> it would be sort of pointless. because it's legal in china. but the people over there need to know that these drugs are killing people. >> in north dakota, the case that is now called "operation stolen youth" that began with the death of their son, christian bjerk, is heading back to federal court in fargo. the next chapter is about to unfold, where a nervous charles carlton, the federal prosecution's main target in this case, is about to be sentenced. >> i know that it's going to be a long time. and i know that i'm going to be

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fire belt, north dakota. august 28th, 2014. it has been more than two years since christian and elijah died from a chemical poisoning from synthetic drugss. in a matter of hours, charles carlton, the man who sold those drugs, will become the 15th and likely last person to be sentenced in the case. >> i know that it's going to be a long time. and i know that i'm going to be severely punished, you know, for what i'm responsible for. >> at the federal courthouse, the family of christian burke is

already heading inside. they have been at most of the hearings and sentencing to show this video and pictures of their 18-year-old son before and even after he was found dead on a grand fork sidewalk. carlton is struggling with what to say to them. he is also struggling knowing he could spend the next two deca decadindecades and as long as the rest of his life behind bars. >> make no mistake, it's going to completely change my life. i will never be able to come back out and go home to the same place i left, whether it be 10 or 20. and i am extremely nervous. and i owe an apology to so many people. and i've been grappling with how to do it. every single person in that courtroom i'm going to owe an apology to on both sides, including this community. >> carlton's wife and parents have traveled from houston to be here.

operation stolen youth, which started with five overdoses and two deaths, has so far led to 14 defendants convicted and sen fen tensed to a total of 101 years in prison. lives ruined because of this little powder that, two years ago, seemed like a safe, synthetic high. the exhaustive case has been a success. >> the message that we have sent with this prosecution is that these are dangerous. and, hopefully, that can help raise awareness and save some lives. we have two families that lost young kids; kids with promise and bright futures, for no reason. >> cameras are not allowed inside federal court. charles carlton with his wife quietly crying one row behind him, is sentenced to 20 years in prison.

>> outside court, the burik's leave for the last time. their sentence is for life. >> it's never going to be done. christian was a child. he's our flesh and blood. he's someone so important to us we would have given our lives for him. you know, our job now is just to get the word out there to the rest of the people so that no other families have to go through this kind of thing and to honor our son, to honor his memory. >> only kids and young adults sitting in here today, please tell them this story. >> since their son christian's death, the burik's have become activists getting out the word on the dangers of synthetic drugs. north dakota has put in new legislation banning a number of synthetics. and federally, the drug that killed christian and elijah is now on the list of banned substances. >> don't be fooled.

don't put yourself in the family that these families found them else. talk to your kids. that synthetic drugs are dangerous. all drugs are dangerous. >> this was done for the memorial for eli. his friends signed that that came. >> the family of elijah sty say they, too, hope their son's death can be a warning to others about the dangers of synthetic, designer drugs. >> our lives were turned upside down. our lives will never be the same. i don't know if you can really put something like that into words. what your life is like after you lose a kid. it's a horrible thing to go through for any parent. eli was a good kid. this can happen to any family. >> i talked to a lot of people

during the course of a day or the course of a month. and, you know, if it comes up, we have this conversation and most people still don't know what they are. they don't know what the drugs are or how badly they can impact their lives. well, wie're witnessing the impact now. we ha we've had this horrible loss. we lost a child. we didn't know about the drugs. we know about them now. and the word needs to get out there to the rest of the world. that these things will kill your kids. think're going to kill anybody who takes them. they're pure, unadulterate d poison.

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is something that can be easily treated. a lot of times, it just may be dietary changes. sometimes you want to give medicines to reduce the amount of acid in the stomach. the president has a history of smoking in the past. we're told he has quit, but that can be a risk factor as well. certainly, if he is still smoking at all, he will be told to actually stop. >> just moments ago, number one-ranked alabama beat missouri, the final score, 44-13. "someone's got to do it" with mike rowe begins right now. last time i went to las vegas and visited a pig farm. i met a lot of pigs, chasing a pig, lifted the pigs, fed the pigs, ate a pig. that was fun. kn