Nick Beatty was clutching on to a marijuana plant when police found him, his eyes red with tears. "He was sobbing pretty hard," said arresting officer John LaVoie. "He'd been barricaded in that house for a couple of weeks, though we only learned of his actions recently. His landlord tried taking care of the situation himself, which isn't something we would recommend others do. If a tenant barricades themselves in one of your rental properties, you should immediately call the police. There's no telling what they might be up to inside."

In Beatty's case, he had been growing marijuana for several months, and the plants were just a few weeks from being smoke worthy when his landlord told him he was planning on selling the house.

"I didn't know Nick was growing pot. I'd rented the place out to him late last year, and haven't been there since. When I told him I'd be bringing over potential buyers to look around, he went a little crazy.

The first time I brought some buyers over, he wouldn't let us in the house. I tried to reason with him, but he just wouldn't budge. I wasn't in a huge hurry to sell the place, but after two weeks of waiting for him to let me in, I got fed up and called the cops."

The police were shocked at what they found. "Marijuana was everywhere. Wall to wall lamps and plants. it was a very impressive set-up." said officer LaVoie.

Nick was devastated by the arrest. "I borrowed money to buy all that equipment. I just couldn't deal with cutting my losses and running. I put my blood and sweat into growing those plants," said Nick. "And now they'll never grow into mature bud, and all because we live in an oppressive society with antiquated drug laws. I'm going to be under house arrest for the next 4 months because a bunch of elderly rednecks hate marijuana. 20 years from now, when they're all dead, pot will be legal. I'm being oppressed by geriatrics."

Officer LaVoie scoffed at Nick's remarks. "Drugs are evil. That's why they're illegal. It has nothing to do with old people standing in the way of progress. Evil is against the law. It always has been and it always will be."