Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested an Edgecomb woman Monday, March 16 for allegedly giving her 13-year-old daughter marijuana-infused brownies.
Jennifer Becker, 49, of Old County Road, faces a class C charge of furnishing a schedule Z drug (marijuana) and a class D charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
Becker denies the charges. “It’s hurting my children that it’s being blown out of proportion like this,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday, March 17. “Nothing was given to my daughter.”
A class C charge is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. A class D charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services received a complaint that Becker had provided her daughter with the brownies, according to a press release from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
“After investigating and conferring with the district attorney’s office, arrest warrants were issued for Ms. Becker and she was arrested without incident,” according to the press release.
Becker was booked at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset and released on unsecured bail. She has a court date in April.
Becker’s bail conditions prohibit contact with her daughter, who is living with her father. Detective Scott Hayden is the lead investigator.
Becker repeatedly stressed the differences between marijuana and hemp in the phone interview.
Becker owns Farmers Overall, a business that imports and distributes hemp products. Hemp is a fiber that derives from the stem of the same plant as marijuana – Cannabis sativa – yet lacks the psychoactive properties of marijuana.
Becker is an advocate for the commercial use of hemp in a variety of applications, including as an ingredient in various food products.
“The health benefits of industrial hemp are something we’re not getting in our diet and there’s no THC in it,” Becker said. Tetrahydrocannabinol, aka THC, is the active ingredient in marijuana.
A bill before the Maine Legislature would legalize hemp cultivation for industrial uses. Rep. Deborah Sanderson, R-Chelsea, is the sponsor of the bill. Sanderson represents Jefferson, part of Nobleboro, and Whitefield in Lincoln County.
Becker supports the bill. The legalization of hemp would create jobs and “be a great benefit to the people of Maine, and people should really be getting hemp in their diets,” she said.
Becker has never been arrested before and has no criminal record, she said.
