Tips from parents lead to NW Ga. synthetic pot bust

ROCKMART, Ga. — Police said a raid Thursday night yielded one of the largest synthetic marijuana busts in northwest Georgia history.

Police told Channel 2 Action News that several teens told their parents they went to the Sunoco gas station on Cedartown Highway in Rockmart to purchase the illegal drug.

"They admitted they were using synthetic marijuana and were buying it at this store," Rockmart Police Department Chief Keith Sorrels said.

When officers raided the store, they found 21 bags of synthetic marijuana. The bags were being sold for $49 each.

The Polk County Drug Task Force arrested the store owner. Police estimated the street value of the drugs officers found to be in the thousands.

In February, state lawmakers made it illegal to process or sell synthetic marijuana.

The drug is blamed in the deaths of several Georgians, including Lance Dyer's 14-year-old son, Dakota.

Dyer started a foundation after his son committed suicide after smoking a cocktail of drugs, which included synthetic marijuana.

"That's what they are. They are poison to our young people," Dyer said.

WSBTV