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'Marijuana Grannies': Senior Citizens Busted with 800 Plants

By Robin Enos on May 09, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

So, "marijuana grannies," how does your garden grow? Well enough to cultivate 800 healthy marijuana plants, allege police in San Bruno, California.

After neighbors reported a break-in at a San Bruno home, cops responded to the residence of Aleen Lam, 72, and Virginia Chan Pon, 65. They found the front door broken open, and nobody home, reports SFGate.com.

Two men were later arrested in South San Francisco, in a BMW, in possession of $12,000 in cash, marijuana packaging material and seven ecstasy pills--all allegedly taken from the residence of the "marijuana grannies," as prosecutors have dubbed the pair.

Investigators later found 800 marijuana plants under cultivation in the home, together with $3,000 in cash, and a bypass mechanism allowing theft of electricity to feed the marijuana growing operation.

Lam and Pon face charges of cultivation of marijuana, maintaining a house for the sale of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and unlawful theft of electricity from a utility. They have pled not guilty, and face a preliminary hearing on the charges on May 13. Bail was set at $100,000 each, reports the Associated Press.

Chae and Kong face charges of drug possession and burglary. They have also pled not guilty, and remain in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The women's senior citizen status gives prosecutors pause. "I've never seen or heard of women in their 60s and 70s running a growhouse," Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County District Attorney, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

With 401k portfolios wiped out, hedge fund defaults, home mortgages under water, Social Security age rising, and real estate values still rock bottom -- should we expect a wave of "enterprising" marijuana grannies impacting the criminal justice system?

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