NASHVILLE - The family van may not withstand a police drug dog's scrutiny.
But Rep. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, says that's the only aftermath of an incident in which a young man and woman apparently broke into his vehicle to smoke marijuana and party.
The Southeast Tennessee lawmaker said today he noticed things weren't quite right last Wednesday morning as he walked up to the 2002 mini-van, which was sitting in the parking lot at the Trinity Lane motel, where he stays at in Nashville while the Legislature meets.
"I noticed that one of the sliding doors was cracked open, and I thought, 'Someone's been inside my van,'" Rep. Bell said. "Somebody during the night had decided to use my van to, I guess, smoke pot in.
"I didn't identify the smell at first," said Rep. Bell, a religious conservative. "I knew somebody had been smoking something."
For complete details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press