NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It should come as no surprise that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation wants to crack down on illegal drug use. What is perhaps surprising is where this information would come from.

Earlier this week, TBI Director David Rausch floated the idea of ​​a 30-week pilot program to study wastewater to track illegal drug use.

“Specifically, the type of drug and the amount of that drug that is in the system,” Rausch said during state budget hearings. “For example, at a high school, they’ll go in and draw that water and test it to see what’s going on there. And they’ll be able to show us the amount, they’re saying it’s high marijuana use, they’ll be able to see that based on the results.”

The pilot project would be based in Knoxville and would allow a company to test wastewater in 16 dormitories, 12 public high schools and 120 other locations it could select.

“So then it becomes a great piece for those school administrators to be able to educate parents and make them aware that this is a problem,” Rausch said.

But the TBI director said it could also be used for criminal enforcement.

“If we have an area where we have drug complaints, we can have them test the water in that area. They wouldn’t be able to tell me the exact house, but they can tell me from a selection of four houses. Then our work on ( intelligence) and observation, we could tell where home is,” he said.

The technique became common in America during the pandemic, when sewage could be tested to determine the number of infections and which types of COVID variants were prevalent.

NewsChannel 5 found that 70 other communities across the country, through their public health departments, monitor for drug use in their wastewater. But it’s unclear whether other law enforcement agencies have considered the move.

We asked the TBI if the sewage results could be used to press charges.

“While the technology may provide some investigative leads, the priority for this effort would be to better monitor emerging public safety issues,” wrote Josh DeVine, director of communications for the TBI. “This would allow us to work with other stakeholders to identify potential hot spots and emerging trends in a faster, hyper-local way to better focus overdose prevention and education efforts.”

The price of this project is nothing to write off.

If the governor and state lawmakers approve, it would cost $3 million for a 30-week trial.

Do you have more information on this story? You can email me at [email protected].

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