A North Dakota woman was arrested and charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance after police found a bong containing water with traces of drug residue in her car during a traffic stop last month.
Jessica Beske, 43, was pulled over for speeding in Polk County, Minnesota, on May 8. Police searched her car after smelling marijuana and said they found the bong and other drug paraphernalia, including a glass jar containing “crystal substances” and pipes.
Later, investigators determined that the bong water taken from Beske’s car and other paraphernalia contained traces of methamphetamine.
Beske told the Minnesota Reformer that she wasn’t carrying any drugs when police pulled her over, just the paraphernalia. But she could face up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, or both.
Drug paraphernalia possession was decriminalized in Minnesota last August, even in cases where drug residue is found on the paraphernalia. A dvocates said this harm-reduction approach would help people dealing with addiction safely recover. Data from the state’s Department of Health showed that drug overdose deaths were at a record high in 2021, with 1,286 overdose deaths reported in Minnesota that year, most of them associated with fentanyl.
But the decriminalization law did not account for a 2009 court ruling that said bong water could be treated as a controlled substance under state law. Despite legislative attempts to address the issue, anyone caught with enough bong water containing drug residue can still face a prison sentence or a hefty fine in Minnesota.
Bong water is not consumed , but rather sits at the bottom of the smoking device and is used to cool and purify the intoxicating smoke.
“It’s against common sense,” Beske said in an interview with the Minnesota Reformer about the charges. “It’s against everybody’s common sense.”
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Polk County Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
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