(RNN) – A lemonade stand might have been easier.
Police in California last week seized 80 pounds of marijuana and other assorted paraphernalia from a family home where a 15-year-old girl was selling it from her bedroom.
They even posted a picture of the daughter’s take on the old “knock before entering” door sign: “It’s the law: You must be 15 years of age or older to purchase weed. No coming in! Knock!”
The Merced County Sheriff’s Office posted the story to their Facebook page, saying Jose Reyes Martinez and Norma Angelica Alvarez, the girl’s parents, were arrested. It said deputies found 12 marijuana plants in the back yard and “learned the 15-year-old daughter was given marijuana from her mother to use and sell from her bedroom.”
“Deputies located packaged marijuana for sale, marijuana edibles and other items associated with the sales and use of marijuana belonging to the daughter,” the Facebook post said.
They also recovered an AK-47 in the sting. The daughter and a sibling will be placed in the custody of a guardian, the post said.
Pot was legalized in California beginning this year, but it remains tightly regulated. Adults over the age of 21 can only grow six plants at any given time for their personal use, and they cannot under any circumstances sell it.
While some comments to the post congratulated the sheriff’s office on a job well done, not everyone was supportive of the police action. A number of responses to the post criticized the authorities for going after what they said was a small-time operation.
“What an absolute waste of resources,” wrote one commenter. “Charge the parents for negligence and put the kids in foster care but why is the government still acting like marijuana is not legal. Go after real criminals.”
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