Green Thumb Goes Wrong in Oak Lawn

By Ana Bolotin in News on Sep 4, 2008 6:10PM

The police don’t really care about your stance on drug legalization or what health problems you have: when you’ve got 170 marijuana plants growing in your backyard, it’s a problem.

Michelle Farnum knew this, so it came as no surprise to her when the Oak Lawn police came a-knockin’ Monday; according to the police, who'd received an anonymous tip, Farnum openly admitted to knowing they were there “…because of what [she had] growing in her backyard…marijuana plants.” Farnum insisted she never sold or gave away any of her homegrown, and she didn’t even like drug dealers; rather, the 46-year-old woman claimed to be cultivating the plants as a medicinal remedy to a recently suffered stroke.

Farnum agreed to a home search and even went so far as to give the officers a tour of her special garden after signing a confession. Also found at the home: 130 grams of marijuana, 145 grams of marijuana seeds, and a .25 caliber pistol for which Farnum lacked a valid firearm owner's identification card.

Judge John Hynes set Farnum’s bail at $7,500 Tuesday. In the meantime, Oak Lawn police Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said, police are holding onto Farnum’s plants, waiting for them to dry out so they can be “bagged and sent to the state police laboratory for testing.” Uh-huh, sure…