Bonnaroo weekend 2009 didn’t turn out as anticipated for one group of local men.
On Wednesday, June 10, the Murfreesboro Police Department raided a house on Kingwood Drive and arrested the four young men inside.
“I’m one of the most peaceful people you’ll ever meet in your life,” said Charles Culver, who does seem like a far cry from a criminal ringleader, as the Murfreesboro Police Department describes him.
Then why did our local law enforcement agents arrest him?
There was something cooking in the house. It wasn’t meth; it wasn’t moonshine. The contraband didn’t seem quite as sinister. Peanut butter cups were cooking, but they had a special ingredient: hallucinogenic mushrooms.
The detectives took the guys off to jail, charging Culver, James Segars, Edgar Chamu and Dane Culver with possession of Schedule I (mushrooms), Schedule VI (marijuana) and drug paraphernalia; all but Dane were also charged with maintaining a dwelling for the sale of drugs.
Reportedly, the police seized over 35 pounds of mushrooms that day from the home; the shrooms were in the process of being baked into the candies and carried to Bonnaroo, for Charles “to make a little extra money,” he said shortly after the arrest. Culver says he is a diabetic, and needed money for his insulin.
He has also publically taken the responsibility upon himself for the banned substances.
“It was all me,” he said in an interview aired on News Channel 5, and added that confirming his friends’ innocence is his priority in this ordeal.
While magic mushrooms may not be the healthiest thing to introduce into one’s body, fans of the fungus question why someone could face years of jail time for cultivating or distributing them.
“People should learn to open their minds, relax, love and take in the world for what it is without introducing a psychoactive substance into their bodies, but still, it’s crazy that people are thrown in prison and having their property taken from them for cultivating and possessing a naturally occurring plant,” said one area person who enjoys an occasional mushroom trip.
Clearly, the effects are not always positive.
“Stay away from them; they’ll change your life,” warned another Murfreesboro resident who has had some trouble controlling his mental state while under the influence of mushrooms.
The shrooms can introduce fear into the user’s mind, according to some who have taken them, but “they open up your mind to a lot of beauty too,” another local said.
“Mushrooms can take you to a higher plane of consciousness that just doesn’t seem to be accessible to the brain’s traditional state,” she said.
Murfreesboro Police Department Public Relations Officer Kyle Evans applauded the arrests, and stood by law enforcement confiscating the illegal drugs.
“There’s no telling how many lives these detectives have saved by keeping these drugs off the street and they should be commended for an outstanding investigation leading to these arrests,” Evans said.
“A person can die the first time they use these poisonous mushrooms,” he continued. “We believe Charles Culver is the ringleader of the operation and that he obtained the mushrooms and baked them into chocolate peanut butter cups.”
Some question the use of resources to go after those who produce mushroom chocolates.
“Why aren’t they going after the real criminals, the meth dealers,” Culver asks. “You bust peaceful people, what does that say about your community’s leaders?”
Online posters have had plenty to say about Evans. His comments that mushrooms can kill the first-time user have generated a firestorm of criticism on websites such as these goodies from posters on fark.com:
nygenxer The police should not lie about drugs. It undermines the trust and respect needed from the public to be effective. Magic mushrooms are NOT poisonous. In fact, there is NO LETHAL DOSAGE for psilocybin!
There is a danger if the fungus is contaminated with bacteria or mold (usually from improper drying) and a person has a severely allergic reaction. Of course, thousands die every year from peanuts and shellfish allergies, but no one describes either as being “poisonous.”
SpinStopper Somebody has been reading too much Government propaganda . . . you can die the first time you ride a bicycle too. And the first time you drive a car, and the first time you eat a peanut. And the second time, and the third time. They just want to equate Mushrooms with LSD, and put the fear of death into people as if it was something unique and especially associated with doing this particular thing.
master_dman This is how the “war on drugs” has been able to shovel billions of dollars a year into the black hole. Lie about the dangers. 75 percent of the general population is dumb as a box of rocks and will believe anything the authorities tell them.
John Paul Jones You know, you can die from eating too many carrots too.
Oh_Enough_Already Yeah, better stick to “safe” poisons like alcohol, sugar and tobacco.
mud_shark You can die if you eat the wrong type of mushrooms. Better to legalize it so the market can be sure of what they’re getting.
Thin_Man_of_a_Ballad Psychadelics are tools, not toys. Tools can be dangerous if used improperly. But they are also very, very useful.
Wasilla Hillbilly I wouldn’t say everyone needs to try psychedelics. What you experience, it changes you. There really is no going back. I am effectively a different person and I am much less able to handle society’s demands than I was before. Would I take it all back? No, but you have to realize there may be a sacrifice.
Dear Bracken, I have just finished reading your article I found it en-lightening but you left out a few things, first my boys are coming home they are in an British prison as I write this– in 2 months they will once again hit American soil yes they were wrong that’s a given–but reasons can be crazy things–let my tell you about Charlies not that it really matters now but I just need the truth to be told as to why—Charlie was born a type one diebetic as long as he was young I could afford all his medicines then after he got of age he did well–that is until he turned twenty-one then life went crazy I work but make less than 25000 a year plus Charlie has 4 siblings so money has always been tight–when Charlie turned twenty one he lost his Tn-Care and could get know insurance because of his pre-existing condition so he worked 70 hours a week tending bar,this brought in enough money to pay his rent and general bills he was driving an old car of mine he could’nt afford the 3500 dollar medicine bill a month without he knew he would die–he came to my office one day and told he had a plan if it worked he would make enough money to pay his medicine bill long enough for him to finish college,then he would get a good enough job with insurance to help pay for his insulin, and all the supplies, plus the rest of the drugs he takes because of the added medical problems that come with this terrible disease it was his last and only hope.3 weeks later I heard about the arrest–sadden because I felt like being sick in America was tandum amount to a death sentence he had no way out there was know help—he was dying–oh yes the health dept–nope Charlie was put on the pump at 16 they do not help with that at all,we tried,,I wish he had some-where else to turn but there was none—-Dane knowing the shape Charlie was in was there to help–the money was to save Charlies life not party on–well anyway–once out on bail my sister who lives in England invited them over there –you know where health care is free you can live there and not worry about dying because you can’t afford your medicines so once again they felt that to run was their only hope and thats what they did–but is they go to a jury trial I pray the real truth comes to light for it’s true No Greater Love than to Die for your Brother Danes loves Charlie and will serve time with him —that is what Amercan Justice calls for is’nt it? Oh and Bracken you say well other people have had this same problem and didn’t resort to Charlies measures–yep thats true but those other people were’nt dying either because if they had of been they to would have resorted to anything even the smallest of starws. Remember that Bracken if your back is ever against the wall and a toranado’s coming
Comment January 9, 2017 @ 6:35 pm