Copperhill Mayor Janelle Kimsey admits that she grew marijuana, but argues that she was unaware that growing marijuana for “educational purposes” was illegal. The rural-town mayor was recently found growing ten marijuana plants on her porch and may be indicted on charges of marijuana cultivation.
“There may be a perfectly good explanation for this, but at this point we haven’t found it,” stated Polk County Sheriff Bill Davis.
In her defense, the two-term mayor claims she was guilty of nothing more than ignorance. “We made a drug bust a couple of months ago, and the citizens wanted to know what [marijuana] looked like,” said the mayor, adding that she planned to take the full grown plants to the police department to be used as a display. “I didn’t know it was illegal to grow it for educational purposes.”
Kimsey also maintains that she intended to use the plants to train the city’s drug sniffing dog to sniff out cannabis. When asked why she was growing so many plants, the mayor responded that she thought several plants were needed so that she could choose the best quality.
“I know ignorance is no excuse, but in my case, it was ignorance,” she remarked.
Although Kimsey has not been arrested, her case will be taken before the Polk County grand jury on July 1. The 10 marijuana plants were confiscated by police.