SPRINGFIELD, S.D. — The drug blamed for most of the recent overdose deaths inside South Dakota prisons doesn’t look like a drug at all. It looks like paper.
Eleven people have been indicted in connection with the November 2025 overdose death of an inmate at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield. An autopsy determined 46-year-old Timothy Tyree died after ingesting synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as K2, according to South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley.
Investigators said other inmates reported becoming sick from K2 during the same time period.
Jackley said the drugs were smuggled into the prison by a contracted food service employee, Tricia Bradley, 56, of Springfield. Authorities allege Bradley brought the drugs inside an envelope containing sheets of paper. Investigators later recovered more than 60 stamp-sized pieces of K2-laced paper.
Tyree is one of eight inmates who died of suspected drug overdoses in South Dakota correctional facilities last year. All but one of those deaths has been linked to K2.
“K2 is a synthetic cannabinoid,” Jackley said. “The challenge that we see — not just in South Dakota, but nationwide — is it’s easily placed on paper, and then it’s typically smoked.”
The practice has become so widespread it has earned its own nickname: “jail paper.” The drug is typically created by spraying liquid K2 onto paper, allowing it to dry, then tearing it into small pieces that can be smoked or ingested.
Jackley said the drug’s popularity in prisons comes down to three things: concealment, potency and addiction.
In a warning posted online, the New York State Department of Health describes K2 as particularly dangerous in correctional settings.
“K2 is popular in prison because of its potency, undetectability and availability,” the department wrote. “‘Jail paper’ is a term used to describe paper laced with K2. This form has become increasingly popular as the paper can be soaked in liquid K2, dried, and then sent or shared with inmates as any other correspondence would be.”
Correctional facilities across the country are reporting similar problems. In Massachusetts, the Department of Correction formed a joint task force to detect and intercept illicit drugs. Officials say the task force has already seized more than 110 pages of synthetic cannabinoids.
In Texas, the issue has been extremely deadly. Between January 2020 and July 2025, almost 190 prisoners died of drug-related causes. In 110 of those cases, synthetic cannabinoids were confirmed or suspected to have caused or contributed to the deaths, according to a Texas Observer analysis of reports filed with the state’s Office of the Attorney General.
K2 is a synthetic drug designed to mimic the effects of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana. Unlike marijuana, however, K2 is made by spraying lab-created chemicals onto plant material. Those chemicals can be 10 to 100 times more potent than THC, increasing the risk of seizures, psychosis, organ failure and death.
“It’s much more potent than marijuana,” Jackley said. “And it’s highly addictive.”
The drug is also notoriously difficult to detect using routine toxicology tests commonly used in healthcare facilities, workplaces and prisons.
Jackley said the growing danger prompted him to introduce legislation this year aimed at increasing the penalties for ingestion, possession, possession with intent to deliver, and delivery of a controlled substance in a state correctional facility.
“Illegal substances inside our prison walls create a dangerous environment for both inmates and staff,” Jackley said. “We have to deter and stop these drugs from resulting in another tragic overdose.”
