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.

Van Meter, Friendswood players look to regain health

For a team that had an ailing head coach and two injured quarterbacks, the Friendswood Mustangs can’t reflect too negatively on what transpired in their 42-28 loss to Angleton this past Friday.

Mustang head coach Steve Van Meter labored through all four quarters of Friendswood’s season opener, and then watched the Wildcats deal misery to the Mustangs on the playing field.

Van Meter still wasn’t back at school Monday and may not return to the campus until the end of the week as his battling the after-effects of having kidney stones lasered.

“He gutted it out Friday night,” Mustang offensive coordinator Robert Koopman said of Van Meter. “I couldn’t have stayed home, either. I think I’ve only missed three practices in 27 years.

“I doubt if he’s ever missed a game. And if he misses a practice, it’s because of a meeting he has to attend.”

Friendswood starting quarterback Hayden Gardner was hurt on the Mustangs’ first series, and backup Jordan Wood missed the game with a knee injury. That left the quarterbacking duties to southpaw Matt Morris.

“Matt did a tremendous job for us when Hayden went down,” Koopman said. “Hayden just aggravated that injury. Matt came out there and he started slinging away.”

It was the Mustang defense that seemed confused by Angleton’s wing-T offense.

“We gave up 400 yards rushing, which is very uncharacteristic for us,” Koopman said. “I thought we were in pretty good shape when it was 28-all, but then on the first snap after the kickoff, they go 60-something yards for a touchdown.

“We haven’t seen much of the wing-T – I don’t know if that has anything to do with how we played – but Angleton just did a great job. They’re a different outfit. I’m impressed with how much they’ve improved in such a short time. They seem to have a different approach.”

From an offensive standpoint, Koopman was happy with the output, especially from a line that returns only one veteran.

“I thought we did a tremendous job up front,” Koopman said. “Dylan Vail did a great job for his first time as a varsity center.

“All off J.J.’s (Jonathan Johnson) 150 yards came between the tackles because they were taking the outside away.”

The challenge could be even more difficult this Friday when Friendswood plays at West Orange-Stark.

“Defensively, I think they have as much or more speed than anyone we play in district,” Koopman said. “Hayden’s probably not going to play this week, but Jordan should be ready to go.

“Whoever impresses the most in practice between Jordan and Matt will probably get the call at quarterback.”