Three hundred miles east of Clarksville lies Sullivan County, Tennessee. That's where parents of two young children were recently arrested on serious drug charges.

Five days ago, members of two law enforcement agencies arrested the couple and charged them with promotion of meth, initiation of a process to produce methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling where narcotics are kept or sold, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts each of child endangerment.

Officers had gone to the home in order to serve an arrest warrant on another woman. She was taken into custody on unrelated methamphetamine charges.

When officers arrived to serve the warrant, they were reportedly given permission to search the home. There they said they found plastic bottles that had been used to manufacture meth, and contained meth waste, as well as trash bags with meth-production waste and coffee filters containing suspected methamphetamine residue, as well as other items often used in the manufacturing of meth.

The couple's two children, ages 11 and five, were at school at the time of the search and arrests.

You might wonder what "promotion of methamphetamine" means. It's a phrase that can refer to a number of different acts, including selling, buying, acquiring or delivering ingredients, chemicals, drugs or apparatuses that are used to manufacture meth.

Simply possessing 15 grams of an immediate meth precursor is prima facie evidence of criminal intent; "prima facie" means that the evidence is itself proof of the state's case (unless the evidenced is rebutted).

If convicted of promotion of methamphetamine, a person could be sentenced to from two to 12 years in prison, with additional fines and forfeitures possible.

Source: tricities.com: "Sullivan County couple arrested on meth-related charges," Feb. 2, 2012