Montgomery Co. family pushes for change following teen's drug death

AUSTIN, TX (KTRK) -- The family of a Montgomery County teen who died last month from a fatal dose of a hallucinogenic drug wants tougher penalties for those who deal them.

Grant Hobson, 16, ingested a stamp-soaked with an LSD-like chemical called 25i-nBOMBe during a "texting party" on February 7th. He was supposed to text his experience to other teens doing the same thing at the same time, but instead his body shut down and he died.

Tuesday, Tyler Hobson, Grant's father shared his family's pain in front of the Criminal Justice Committee of the Texas State Senate. They testified in support of Senate Bill 172 which would add a number of chemical compounds including 25i to the Texas Controlled Substances Act.

"Someone was able to kill my son for $10 and there's nothing we can do about it. We have to have legislation that goes after these people and legislation that protects our children," Hobson told the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee.

Currently, the penalty for having the drugs is only a Class B Misdemeanor. The new bill would make the penalty tougher -- at least a state jail felony.

"Teens everywhere are overdosing," said State Senator Joan Huffman (R-Houston) who is authoring the bill.

Committee members unanimously voted to recommend the bill to the full Senate for debate.