Revised January 1, 2006, July 30, 2007, November 5, 2007 and August 3, 2009
Copyright 1998-2009 by John W. Allen
NEWS ARCHIVES
Hello and welcome to our News archives.
In this section you will find several newspaper clippings regarding the occurrence and use of visionary mushrooms in Tennessee.
They are arranged alphabetically by newspapers and then Chronologically by dates.
Tennessee
A page devoted to newspaper clippings from Tennessee
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Unicoi teen gets 8 years for selling psychedelic mushrooms WATE Channel 6: The news Knoxville, Tennessee September 13,
2004 ROGERSVILLE
(AP) -- A Hawkins County judge has sentenced a teen to eight years in prison
for selling psychedelic mushrooms. Eighteen-year-old
Michael Lee Long of Unicoi pleaded guilty to lesser charges of possession and
intent to deliver. Long will be
eligible for parole after serving a third of his sentence. Assistant
District Attorney Doug Godbee says psychedelic drug arrests are unusual in
Hawkins County. But Godbee
says the sentence imposed Monday should caution potential dealers that
punishment is stiff. |
| Tuesday september21, 2004 Franklin, Tennessee http://reviewappeal.midsouthnews.com/news.ez?viewStory=25328 The Williamson County Review Appeal Teen gets eight years for psychedelic mushrooms ROGERSVILLE (AP) — A Hawkins County teenager was sentenced to eight years in prison for dealing psychedelic mushrooms. Martin Lee Long, 18, of Unicoi, was sentenced Monday by Circuit Court Judge James Beckner to the eight-year term and a $2,225 fine. He pleaded guilty to possession of Schedule I narcotics with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. The narcotics were psilocybin mushrooms. Assistant District Attorney Doug Godbee said he wanted to send a message. "It's listed as a Schedule I narcotic, which means it is deemed among the most dangerous narcotics out there," Godbee said of the mushrooms. "These mushrooms are basically the same as LSD in that people who take them hallucinate and seriously threaten the safety of themselves and people around them. This is a drug we definitely want to prevent from taking a foothold in our communities." Long will be eligible for parole after serving 30 percent of his sentence. |
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Sunday, 14 Nov 2004 Williamson County News & Information http://reviewappeal.midsouthnews.com/news.ez?viewStory=25328 The Williamson County Review Appeal Teen gets eight years for psychedelic mushrooms ROGERSVILLE (AP) — A Hawkins County teenager was sentenced to eight years in prison for dealing psychedelic mushrooms. Martin Lee Long, 18, of Unicoi, was sentenced Monday by Circuit Court Judge James Beckner to the eight-year term and a $2,225 fine. He pleaded guilty to possession of Schedule I narcotics with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. The narcotics were psilocybin mushrooms. Assistant District Attorney Doug Godbee said he wanted to send a message. "It's listed as a Schedule I narcotic, which means it is deemed among the most dangerous narcotics out there," Godbee said of the mushrooms. "These mushrooms are basically the same as LSD in that people who take them hallucinate and seriously threaten the safety of themselves and people around them. This is a drug we definitely want to prevent from taking a foothold in our communities." Long will be eligible for parole after serving 30 percent of his sentence. |
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Police Bust UTC Student- State Representative's Son for Intent to
Sell Drugs |
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http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/dec/04/ut-students-charged-making-hallucinogen-dorm-room/ Knoxville, Tennesee UT students charged with making hallucinogen in dorm room By Matt Lakin (Contact) Originally published 02:24 p.m., December 4, 2007 Updated 02:24 p.m., December 4, 2007 12-4-2007 Two University of Tennessee students have returned to Knox County to face charges of turning a dormitory room into a drug lab. Vonore police officers arrested John Chalmers Thompson, 19, of Madisonville and Erik Benson Kenney, also 19, of Loudon on Friday night on charges of marijuana possession. While in custody, the teenagers, both sophomores at UT, admitted to having more drugs in their rooms on the second floor of Melrose Hall, University of Tennessee Police Department Capt. Keith Lambert said. UTPD officers searched the rooms early Saturday and found marijuana in both rooms and materials used to make dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogen similar to ecstasy, in Kenney's room, Lambert said. Officers evacuated the nearby rooms and called in a hazardous materials crew to clean up the room, he said. A check by UT's Office of Environmental Health and Safety found the building was safe for students to return, Lambert said. Thompson and Kenney each face charges of marijuana possession and manufacturing a Schedule 1 drug, along with charges in Monroe County of marijuana possession. |
| Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, Tennesee June 17, 2008 Mushrooms, marijuana seized in traffic stop A Cumberland County sheriff's deputy who made a traffic stop on a motorist whose vehicle allegedly weaved over a fog line several times arrested the suspect on drug charges after allegedly finding contraband in the vehicle. Deputy Richard Tinch was on patrol on Hwy. 70 W when the driving of a motorist in front of him attracted his attention. He stopped the 2004 Toyota 4-Runner and the driver told him he had just purchased a kayak that he was hauling on top of the vehicle and that it was causing him problems with the wind. The motorist, identified as Anthony Wayne Harper, 41, Orlando, FL, denied a request to search the vehicle. While filling out citations for no proof of insurance and failure to maintain a lane of traffic, K-9 Officer Kevin Phillips arrived on the scene and walked his drug detection dog around the vehicle. When the dog alerted as to the presence of drugs in the car, the motorist told officers he had a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle, according to the arrest report. A search of the SUV, however, yielded over five ounces of marijuana buds and three plants that are suspected of being hallucinogenic mushrooms. Also found were drug paraphernalia, a crusher, digital scale and $3,200 in cash. All were seized along with the vehicle and the motorist was placed in jail in lieu of $41,000 with a June 23 court date. http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/local/local_story_169171810.html |
| March 18, 2009. Illegal hallucinogenic mushroom-growing operation dismantled in E. TN Knoxville (WVLT) -- An East Tennessee sheriff has broken up an illegal drug-making operation, and the drug is not one he expected to find. 24-year-old Brian Matthew Criswell was arraigned Monday morning in the Hamblen County jail on charges of growing and possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms with intent to sell them. Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnigan says in the 30 years he's been wearing a badge here, he's never seen a mushroom growing operation like this one. And hallucinogenic mushrooms are so dangerous, the law treats them as seriously as heroin. In Hamblen County's Russellville community, people keep an eye on their neighborhood. One neighbor thought something unusual was going on at 5340 Stuffle Road. Sheriff Esco Jarnigan investigated and got a search warrant on Friday. He did not expect to find these, products of an indoor crop of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Sheriff Jarnigan says, "It was a pretty elaborate operation, different stages of growth." 24-year-old Brian Matthew Criswell has been arraigned on charges of manufacturing schedule one drugs, and possession with intent to sell. Jarnigan says it's very rare for mushrooms to show up on the local drug scene. He hopes this bust will help keep it that way. Jarnigan says, "Hopefully we have, as Barney Fife would say, nipped it in the bud. This is the first time I've seen this operation in Hamblen County, so hopefully we have stopped it before it got started abundantly." Sonja Carrier is a neighbor says, "Certainly don't want to see it across the street or anywhere else." Carrier says she had no idea that mushrooms were allegedly growing inside the home across the road from her house. With five children to raise, it scares her. Carrier says, "I'm very concerned that things are going on. I know that the law enforcement community has really been working hard." The sheriff says the hard work is easier with your help. Whether it's this case or the five meth-making operations his department has brought down in 2008. Sheriff Jarnigan says, "When you have a house that there's a lot of high traffic, going in and out, just staying a few minutes, and then gone, there's something going on." Volunteer TV talked to the Metropolitan Drug Commission in Knox County. They keep up with local drug use trends. They say they are aware of a handful of hallucinogenic mushroom incidents in the area, but like Sheriff Jarnigan, they say it still appears rare around here. |
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http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090612/NEWS01/906120371/Police+seize+mushroom+chocolate+bars Tennessean.com Police seize mushroom chocolate bars 3 arrested, say they baked for Bonnaroo By Mark Bell GANNETT TENNESSEE June 12, 2009. MURFREESBORO— Police recovered more than 35 pounds of hallucinogenic mushroom chocolate bars and a felony amount of marijuana Wednesday evening that would have been heading to the Bonnaroo music festival today. "Mushrooms are similar to LSD in the fact that they cause people to hallucinate, and like LSD a person can die the first time they use these poisonous mushrooms, especially in the condition that they were in here," said Murfreesboro police spokesman Kyle Evans. "Being baked into chocolate makes it a lot easier to consume more than is needed for the high in a short amount of time and can lead to overdose." The arrests of Charles Culver, 22, James Segars, 20, and Edgar Chamu, 23, came just hours before the festival was to begin. Police said the men, who were baking the mushrooms into chocolate peanut butter cups at their 303 W. Kingwood Drive home, admitted to police they planned to take the chocolate bars to the festival in Manchester. The bust took place "in a typically quiet neighborhood," Evans said. "The fact that these are former college students living in a typical neighborhood goes to show that drugs can be found anywhere at anytime. If anyone suspects drugs are being sold or produced don't hesitate to call law enforcement and bring it to our attention." Vice unit investigatedThe arrests were made after a lengthy investigation by the vice unit. Detectives Jeff Baskette and Merrill Beene led the investigation. "Drugs of an unknown type, a felony amount of marijuana and several thousands of dollars in cash and several guns were also recovered from the home," said Evans. "The detectives in the vice unit as a whole should be proud of this investigation," he said. "There's no telling how many lives they may have saved by keeping these drugs off the streets." The mushrooms recovered from the home were not grown there, according to police. The street value of each individual chocolate cup was estimated by police to be $20. A popular illicit drug Web site indicates that most mushrooms are sold for $20 per 3.5 gram bag. The active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms produces a variety of
symptoms in the user, including euphoria, creative thinking, sensation of
insight, intense emotional sensitivity, time perception alteration, change in
consciousness, closed-eye visuals, intense feelings of fear, anxiety and
confusion. Contact Mark Bell at 615-278-5153 or mbell@dnj.com. |
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