7-26-2012 meeting of the Rotary Club of Chickasha

The July 26, 2012 meeting of the Rotary Club of Chickasha opened with a prayer, pledge and song.

Guests included Logan and Tanner Tibbetts.

Tim Brauer was congratulated for his birthday and Steve Laforge for his recent marriage.

Prayer concerns include Ann Haralson and Bill and Janice McVey.

Aaran Elyachar was introduced as the newest member of the club. He is the new area scout executive. He is a recent graduate of the University of Arizona and is from Kansas.

May'Ze Brown, the 2012 Rush Springs Watermelon Queen invited the club to attend the Aug. 11 Watermelon Festival. She brought two watermelons to auction off and the winning bidder was Jerry Mottinger of Dunn's Food Center.

Our guest speaker was Lawson Guthrey of the District 6 Drug Task Force. His topic was the epidemic of synthetic drug sales and use in the region.

The sale of synthetic drugs, legitimate products that have been chemically altered to become hallucinogens, is big busy. Two years ago about $250,000 was estimated to be spent on marketing the products but has grown to more than $13 million.

He said the attitude of man stores that sell products is "You sell it, we'll pay the fines."

Oklahoma last year stiffened the penalty to $20,000 and up to life in prison per count in hopes of curbing the sales.

"It is going to take a good prosecution to get their attention," Guthrie said.

One of the first case that will come to trial is in Grady County where a store owner and three clerks await trial for distribution of illegal synthetic drugs.

He said once someone is sent to jail you might see sales drop.

Guthrie said the products target a diverse group of consumers, including kids, military, gamblers, and marijuana smokers.

Using the drugs can have devastating health risks including uncontrollable seizures.

The problem for law enforcement that just as soon as a test is developed to detect the illegal substances, chemists alter the formula and make the test obsolete. 

The meeting adjourned after recitation of the Rotary 4-Way Test.