
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 18, 1995                   TAG: 9503200049
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARION                                LENGTH: Short

CONCERTGOERS' SOUPED-UP SWEETS SEIZED BY POLICE

THE CROWD AT a Pennsylvania concert won't see the array of goodies two Tennessee young men had intended for them - trays and trays of marijuana-laced cookies, cakes and brownies were intercepted by state police this week.

State police have seized dozens of trays of marijuana-laced brownies, cookies and cakes from two 19-year-old Tennessee men who said they were on their way to a rock concert in Pennsylvania.

Trooper Ray Cox noticed a strong odor of marijuana when he stopped a recreational vehicle for a routine traffic violation Thursday night on Interstate 81 in Smyth County. He called for a state police drug-sniffing dog, which had no trouble zeroing in on the source.

Police found 43 trays of brownies and 10 trays of loaf cakes, along with a large container of cookies and the equivalent of four more trays of loaf cakes wrapped in aluminum foil, all baked with marijuana in them, said Sgt. David Shaver.

Matthew Johnston of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Aaron Solomon of Signal Mountain, Tenn., were being held Friday in the Smyth County jail in lieu of $50,000 bond each.

They are charged with possession of illegal drugs with intent to distribute, as well as possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms and of drug paraphernalia.

Shaver estimated the street value of the recovered drugs at between $5,000 and $10,000.

The trays were in two 10-gallon containers, which were seized along with $810 in cash and the vehicle. Pills found in the vehicle were sent to a laboratory in Roanoke for analysis, Shaver said.

by CNB