Two Tennessee Tech students were arrested late Monday night for drug-related charges.
Ronald Canovan and Dominic Edwards were arrested March 23 at the Wendy’s on Willow Avenue. Edwards was text messaging someone to sell an ounce of marijuana and agreed to meet at the restaurant, but it turned out to be Cookeville Police Officers Marshall and Trivette.
When Edwards rolled down the passenger side window, the officers reported to smell marijuana and asked them to step out of the vehicle. Edwards and the vehicle, a silver Durango belonging to Canovan’s mother, were searched with consent.
A K-9 dog was brought in for the search and found 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a mason, a digital scale, a smaller bag of marijuana and $634.
The whole incident turned out to be a surprise for Canovan, who was arrested on suspicions of conspiracy to sell a controlled substance.
“I didn’t know what he was doing. I just thought I was giving him a ride to meet with a friend,” said Canovan. “I had no idea that he was selling.”
Edwards was arrested on suspicions of the manufacturing, distribution and selling of a controlled substance. He was unable to be reached for comment.
Marijuana has been a popular topic on Tech campus for the past week as a student has been seen holding a pro-marijuana sign around campus. Sam Andrews is an outspoken pro-legalization activist. He believes that the police are just wasting every body’s time with cases like this.
“It is a human right to use plants. Should we make tomatoes illegal because they can cause heartburn?” said Andrews. “I mean that sounds ridiculous right? Well we have here a plant with literally no proven negative effects ever recorded … but medicinally recorded for thousands of years and more and more uses being unearthed every day.”
