(RepublicanJournal.org) – Darius Rucker, who rose to fame as the lead vocalist for 90s sensation Hootie and the Blowfish and, later, launched a successful country music career, recently found himself behind bars on a minor drug offense. The arrest was reportedly a follow-up response to a traffic stop roughly a year ago when police allegedly found marijuana and several unidentified pills in the musician’s possession.
WSMV 4 reports that officers smelled marijuana when they conducted their stop on February 19, 2023, in response to a traffic violation. A search of Rucker’s GMC pickup truck uncovered a THC pen and 14 purple-gray pills that lacked identifiable manufacturing stamps. They also found a blunt, or marijuana cigar, on the singer’s person. He reportedly admitted to having “smoked weed” inside the truck but insisted he hadn’t done so that evening. The music star claimed the illegal items came from his girlfriend, insisting he had no idea what was in the pills.
Officers allowed Rucker to go at the time, but the case remained open while they determined the pills’ contents. The test results finally came back, and they found that the pills contained a psychedelic compound called psilocybin, the substance in “magic” mushrooms. The US Drug Enforcement Administration states that ingestion can cause muscle weakness, poor coordination, and nausea/vomiting in addition to hallucinations and the inability to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. High doses can cause episodes similar to psychosis, and high enough overdoses may be emotionally terrifying or even deadly.
Rucker was booked on February 1. He paid a $10,500 bond for his release an hour later. The singer faces charges of simple possession, violation of registration, and casual exchange. His lawyer says he’s “fully cooperating” with the police.
Rucker was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December. He won a Grammy alongside the rest of Hootie and the Blowfish in 1995 for Best New Artist, but the singer-songwriter has also made his mark in the country music scene with eight solo albums.
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