Synthetic sales should be felony

The Rutherford County Commission responded to a mother's plea Thursday by passing a resolution urging for synthetic drug dealing to a be a felony.

"It has to become a felony offense," said Brooke Wyant, a Riverdale High School teacher who shared the story of her son's struggles with addiction to synthetic drugs after attending MTSU on a full-ride scholarship. "Life hasn't been the same. We're in financial ruin. He went through thousands of dollars in a manner of months."

All 20 present commissioners voted for the
resolution, which asks the Tennessee General Assembly to make it a felony for those making, distributing and selling synthetic drugs. Commissioner Steve Sandlin was absent because he's dealing with kidney stones.

Commissioner Robert Peay Jr. also called for the document be sent to all 95 counties in Tennessee to seek similar resolutions, and all of the commissioners agreed.

The resolution noted that the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, Murfreesboro Police, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, State Attorney General's Office and the Rutherford County District Attorney's Office in September conducted a raid in which 36 convenience stores in the county were found to be selling synthetic marijuana and designer stimulants for up to $30 per package.

Wyant told the commission that her son Dylan Evans stole from his family so he could buy synthetic drugs from local convenience stores. He ended up having to be rushed to the hospital after overdosing on prescription pills when the mother tried to prevent him from going back out to buy more synthetic drugs. The family now faces a $22,000 debt for his 30 days of rehabilitation treatment.

Since then, the son has visited Blackman High to warn others about the dangers of synthetic drugs.

"He wants to help," the mother said.

Synthetic drugs can put a family in upheaval, Wyant added.

In addition to the mother speaking before the commission, Kathy Hines of the TN-ZERO task force on stopping synthetic drugs and Sheriff's Lt. Egon Grissom spoke.

"Our children are dying at astronomical rates," said Hines, a La Vergne resident who is retired from a career as a detective in Detroit. "One out of nine teens have used some form of synthetic drugs."

Grissom noted that local convenience stores are selling synthetic drugs under packages called bath salts or black fertilizer to simulate marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and Ecstasy.

"These drugs are much worse than any other drug you know because of the psychotic effects," Grissom said.

He noted that the National Poison Control Center reported that the first seven months of 2011 had 13 times as many cases of people harmed from synthetic drugs than in all of 2010.

To put a stop to it, synthetic drug dealers need to face punishments much stricter than a $200 misdemeanor fine, Grissom said.

"Put some bite into it," Grissom said.

In addition to the resolution on synthetic drugs, the commission approved spending $224,000 more to repair the brick exterior at the County Jail, which is structurally sound otherwise. The county will use $199,000 from development taxes that collect $1,500 per new home and $25,000 from the Sheriff's Drug Enforcement Administration fund.