Police say mother insisted marijuana isn't a drug

PROVO — Some people question the illegality of marijuana. But not police officers.

That's why one mother who police say lectured a Lehi officer on the leafy drug found herself arrested and now headed to trial on drug charges.

Karen Beal, 44, was in 4th District Court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing on several drug charges after police said she had bags of packaged marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms in her room and the room of her 16-year-old daughter.

Lehi police detective Mark Birch testified that the city's police chief received an anonymous letter saying there was drug activity in Beal's home, so Birch went to investigate in May.

He testified that Beal allowed him to enter and investigate the claims in the letter.

As Birch and a second officer entered Beal's bedroom, he said he initially thought it strange that Beal had a heat-sealing device by her bed. When asked about it, Beal produced a mechanical product a relative was selling on eBay that she was packaging using the heat sealer.

But then Birch found a sketch of a marijuana leaf and requested a more thorough search.

When he got downstairs, he said he immediately smelled the odor of burnt marijuana coming from Beal's daughter's room.

Defense attorney Shelden Carter questioned whether Birch ever obtained permission to search the room, in which the detective found two packages of sealed marijuana.

Birch wavered a bit but said it was implicit permission because Beal had led him downstairs to the room.

As Birch questioned the 16-year-old about the drug, the mother interrupted.

"She took me to task that marijuana was not a drug and that she smokes marijuana with her daughter," Birch said. "Her belief is that marijuana is not a drug."

"So she was taking issue with the way you were characterizing marijuana as a drug?" asked prosecutor Craig Johnson.

"Yes," Birch replied.

However, Carter said there is a dispute over whether Beal actually made those comments. Beal has no criminal history.

Johnson said the second Lehi officer also heard the comments.

Birch testified he searched Beal's room again and found marijuana remnants, seeds and stems, several gel caps, as well as loose bills and a couple of bags of mushrooms, which Beal allegedly asserted were for personal use.

However, Johnson argued the drugs were packaged for sale.

"If somebody was to buy drugs for personal use, they usually don't package them out," Birch testified. "They usually have one bag that they use for their drugs."

Carter responded that the amounts were too small to be sold and that Beal had insisted they were for personal use.

Judge James Taylor bound Beal over for trial on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, possession of mushrooms and endangerment of a child, all felonies. Carter said he would be filing several motions, including challenging the search of the home.

A juvenile case against the daughter for the marijuana is already resolved, Carter said.

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