TRACY HARRIS
Staff Writer
The monthly meeting of the Marshall County GOP was held on Oct. 17 at 6:00 p.m. The Marshall County GOP meets monthly at the TWHBEA Banquet Room (250 North Ellington Pkwy, Lewisburg) the third Tuesday of each month. Due to the upcoming holidays, the next meeting will be on Jan. 16, 2024.
The topic was “Illegal drugs that are taking over our community and country.” Several guest speakers were in attendance: Scott Braden-LPD Chief of Police, Shane George-Director 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force, Shaun Crawford-LPD Sergeant, Tony Nichols-MCSO Detective, Steven Daugherty-Special Agent 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force, and Linda Bassham-Director Marshall County Probation.
Chief Braden spoke first and gave an update on issues specifically in the city. A lot has changed over the last 10 years. The issue here has evolved from crack cocaine to opioids and fentanyl. “Things have changed and it’s not for the good. How do we stop it from getting into the community? It goes back to what’s coming across at the border. A lot of it is trickling in and until that gets slowed down or stopped, we’re going to continue to have a problem. Lewisburg experiences an overdose pretty much every day here and it is not just us – it’s a nationwide problem.” Narcan, short for Naloxone, is a medication approved by the FDA and is given through an intranasal spray (into the nose). It can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. “Every officer today carries Narcan now,” Braden said.
The 17th Judicial Drug Task Force covers four counties including Marshall, Bedford, Lincoln, and Moore-close to 150,000 citizens. Director George explained several things about their work:
- There are three agents that perform the day-to-day tasks
- Their track record is well above average for putting people away for a very long time
- They receive funding through The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant for $210,000 for a period of three years at $70,000 each year
- Most work involves meth but recent influx in synthetic opioids
- Use confidential informants, wire taps, trackers, cell phone data to reach large-scale dealers
George said, “In the 17th district, were not afraid to give years for sentences, a lot of years for sentences. That gives law enforcement the spine that it needs to go out and do the job they need to do to protect the community.” He explained how a weak prosecutor or weak prosecutorial system can hinder their hard work, but “right now the DA’s office is really strong and very supportive.” George said “As a nation, just this past week, we have we have 28.6 million drug users in the U. S. 24 million of those are current marijuana users. You have 27.9 million ages 12 years old and older driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. America has a drug problem.”
Daugherty spoke next. He said, “Right now what we’re really trying to combat is the fentanyl. It’s kind of hard right now. We have to find the dealers by working up the chain.” He said meth is easy to get and called it a low-hanging fruit. Daugherty said, “I won’t say meth’s not dangerous, it is. Everything follows the meth and the meth is getting here from Mexico. It don’t come from anywhere else. It was coming through Mexico, to Atlanta. Now, it Antioch TN-Nashville.”
Sergeant Crawford and Detective Nichols focused on the biggest local issues- a correlation between drugs and crime and local convenience stores selling products that are not regulated by the FDA. Crawford reported that at least four kids have been hospitalized in the past six months due to THC products. The department does sting operations locally to catch who is selling delta products, alcohol, vapes, and cigarettes to underage buyers, but it is not doing much to curb the problem. Crawford said, “It’s just the way the law is, it’s got to be so many times before you can really do anything to them. They get a little fine. How many stores around here can have a little $500 fine and walk away knowing they’ll make that up before the end of the week?”
Bassham was the last speaker of the night and told about the role of Marshall County Misdemeanor Probation. She became Director of MCMD in 2020 and since then has helped with the county getting Recovery Court. There have been 10 graduates of the program since 2020. Recovery court focuses on those the court deems high risk and high need. It is more rigorous than probation with strict rules and requirements. Bassham said, “I just don’t see evidence of incarceration helping a drug addict. They go in and out, and in and out. It’s a revolving door.” There are currently 573 citizens on probation. Of those drug tested last month, 65% were positive for drugs. In order to make this county safer, Bassham said that we as a society must recognize that addiction is a disease.
There was a Q & A portion at the end of the GOP meeting. Vince Cuevas asked the audience and speakers if State Representative Todd Warner who was also there, should try to create legislation for convenience stores who repeatedly break the law. Rick Williams, field representative for Andy Ogles asked, “Who exactly are these drug dealers? Are they illegals, African-Americans, Whites, or what?” The panel answered questions until the meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
