Woman Facing 30 Years in Prison for Bong Water

A loophole in a Minnesota drug law could land one woman behind bars for decades if convicted, and it all has to do with bong water. 

The Minnesota Reformer reports that 43-year-old Jessie Beske of Fargo, SD was pulled over for speeding on Minnesota's Highway 59 on May 8. According to charging documents, officers smelled marijuana and searched her car. They then found a bong, a glass jar containing a "crystal substance," and various paraphernalia items. 

The water in the bong, the substance in the glass jar, and the residue on the paraphernalia all tested positive for methamphetamine. The police reported that the bong water weighed eight ounces, while the crystal substance weighed 13.2 grams "in total with the packaging." Beske claims the "packaging" in question is the glass jar and that the officers only included the jar in the weight because there was no measurable quantity of substance on her. 

Beske affirmed that she had no drugs on her, only paraphernalia containing residue. That in itself isn't against the law, as a 2023 bill decriminalized possession of paraphernalia even with residue. Still, she's been charged with first-degree felony possession, which comes with a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. 

The possession charge doesn't stem from the residue on the glass jar, but the water inside the bong. Under state law, eight ounces of bong water is considered the same as eight ounces of pure methamphetamine. The legal threshold required for a first-degree felony offense is 50 grams. 

The assistant county attorney in charge of the case, Scott Buhler, told the Reformer that his office "simply enforces the laws of this state as written." 

"I will not comment on any pending cases," he said. "The criminal complaint filed in Ms. Beske’s case speaks for itself."

Beske admitted she deals with substance abuse, which she said started while she was leaving an abusive ex. "The only thing I’m guilty of is using substances to lessen my mental suffering caused by a sick and abusive predator," she said. “Addicts—women especially—are made to feel like public enemy number one, when in fact most of us have been victims of serious crime that will never be prosecuted."

Just the idea of being locked up for 30 years is enough to hurt her condition. "It’s just gonna make my life worse and make me want to use drugs more," she said. "That’s why people use drugs mostly, is to cope."