Police Bring Pot Luck to Marijuana Plant Grower

For Sheriff’s Capt. Frank O’Hanlon, it was proof that the times they are a-changin’.

Four days after deputies arrested Moorpark resident Jenny Lipson on suspicion of growing a marijuana plant, O’Hanlon returned the plant and related paraphernalia. Lipson said the marijuana was grown mainly to treat constant migraine headaches and nausea.

Lipson greeted O’Hanlon with a tearful smile and a hug.

“In 20 years of law enforcement, I never thought I would be returning marijuana, but times are changing,” O’Hanlon said as he left Lipson’s home Tuesday.

O’Hanlon had the approval and support from the top of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department when he stood in Lipson’s open door, his right hand extended for a shake and his left hand clutching pipes, matches and stash boxes.

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O’Hanlon said “an ambiguity that is not understood at this time” led the department to return Lipson’s plant and related paraphernalia, a move that ended her four-day trip through the legal system. During that time, she was taken to jail, strip-searched by female deputies and released Sunday after paying $1,000 bail.

Sheriff Bob Brooks and O’Hanlon said they decided to return the plants and paraphernalia because of ambiguities created by the passage of Proposition 215 by California voters in 1996. That law made it legal for Californians who are ill to use small amounts of marijuana if they have doctor’s permission, which she did not have.

They also considered Lipson’s time in jail before dropping the charges, Brooks said.

Arresting Lipson, Brooks said, was “technically appropriate” but not good judgment. Deputies should have just written her a citation and “put it through the system.”

Growing marijuana is a felony in California, but possession of less than an ounce is a citable offense, much like a misdemeanor traffic ticket.

Authorities arrested Lipson, 40, on Friday night and booked her on suspicion of growing pot, after receiving an anonymous phone tip. They asked if they could search her home, and when she agreed, they found a scrawny and brittle 18-inch plant in a backyard garden area.

After she left her 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter in the care of neighbors, Lipson was taken to the Moorpark sheriff’s station.

She ended up at the jail in the sheriff’s station in Thousand Oaks, where her bail was set at $10,000.

“I never have been through a more humiliating experience in my life,” Lipson said. “They came and entered through my garage, with my children playing, and it caught me off guard.”

Lipson said she started growing pot a few months ago, at a friend’s suggestion. The migraines she had suffered since childhood had gotten worse, and she tried pills normally prescribed for depression and epileptic seizures. Nothing worked. Neither did an electric neuromuscular stimulator or hormone medication prescribed by her doctor.

Only the marijuana temporarily deadened the migraines, she said.

“A to Z, from acupuncture to Zoloft, nothing helped,” Lipson said. “[Marijuana] helps me cope. It takes the edge off.”

O’Hanlon told Lipson on Tuesday that detectives would not be turning over the case to prosecutors.

“This puts an end to this case,” he said, as Lipman showed him a large plastic bag filled with medication she has tried in her search for pain relief.

“Technically, it is illegal to grow marijuana, but we don’t want to put you in a situation where you have to go before a judge,” he said.

Lipson thanked O’Hanlon and said the plant growing among the other weeds and flowers in her backyard was for medicinal use--most of the time.

“I do smoke recreationally, on occasion,” she said.

“Are you sure you want to be telling me this?” O’Hanlon asked.

“I just believe in being honest,” Lipson said.