Police: Pot Farmer Hid Plants At Former Cheltenham Country Club

October 13, 2011 10:50 AM

Charles Patterson.

Reporting Brad Segall

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NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) – A south-central Pennsylvania man remains behind bars and will stand trial in Montgomery County, accused of operating a large-scale marijuana growing operation at a former country club.

Charlie Patterson is facing several counts of possession with intent to deliver and other drug charges for allegedly running a marijuana growing operation on the grounds of the former Cedarbrook Hill Country Club in Cheltenham.

Police began the investigation in June, but say the 48-year-old Adams County man may have been there for three years.

Prosecutor Jason Whalley says police seized paraphernalia from the area.

“They got 260 total plants in various stages of growth, anything from small to big plants ranging over six feet high, various tools, a large scale irrigations system.”

Police say the brush at the club is overgrown, making it easy for Patterson to hide his operation. They set up a motion-activated camera that caught Patterson working the site. Police say he traveled back and forth from his home in Gardners and believed he was growing the pot to sell it.

Reported by Suburban Bureau Chief Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio 1060

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Police: Pot Farmer Hid Plants At Former Cheltenham Country Club

Linda D Bryant

Which is why it should be legalized!

Marijuana is not a DRUG–it’s a weed!!!!
It’s the amount of the THC contained in it that gives you that euphoria!!!

He should have grown his stash in his own basement or backyard!!!!!!
Sal Manella

Stories like this always bring out the drug abusers who are trying to justify their addiction.
Pat

It is well established that you can’t. Even being “hotboxed” in a closet for 20 minutes would be unlikely to get you high unless a very large quantity of marijuana was being smoked. This is because the quantity of THC required to produce a psychoactive effect is far lower than the amount you would inhale secondhand – it’d be like a full grown person having a sip of beer and claiming they’re drunk.
paulette

I love YOUR logic! Pot smokers aren’t rapists and murderers. To classify them together is asinine. Now the state (you) has to pay $29,000 a year to keep this man in prison. Yes, that’s what it costs. For doing nothing that was going to harm you or your friends. How many people were killed last year in pot-fueled fights? Zero. High drivers killing people on the road? Considering they drive 30 MPH probably not many. Meanwhile, there were 20,000 alcohol-related crashes last year, and MOST of the violent attacks that you’re so worried about involved alcohol in some way. And yet, it’s legal. Glad you’re o.k. with all that death and crime, though. And guess what–if you’re going to eliminate the purchase of every plant and substance that can be used to get you “euphoric”–then you just decided that grocery shopping and shopping at Home Depot is illegal. I don’t believe the government has the right or responsibility to tell me what to put in my body as long as I don’t hurt anyone else, I’m sorry if you guys if you need the Government to tell you how to live.