POLK COUNTY – A Fargo woman who was stopped for speeding last May now faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine after police discovered a bong with water residue that tested positive for methamphetamine.

According to court documents, when Polk County Sheriff’s officers stopped Jessica Beske for speeding in the early morning hours of May 8, they found a partially burned marijuana cigarette, other paraphernalia and a bong with about 8 ounces of water in it.

The bong filled with water led to her most serious charge, first-degree possession of alcohol.

“Until Jessica came to our office, I had never heard of this law, and I had never heard of such a stupid law,” said Beske’s defense attorney Dane Dekrey. “I thought, this can’t be true. This can’t be the law in Minnesota. There’s no way we can treat discarded, used bong water the same as real methamphetamine.”

But under the law, and according to the State v. Peck case, which the state Supreme Court decided in 2009, water in a tap can be considered a “drug mixture.”

The Minnesota State Legislature decriminalized drug paraphernalia during the last legislative session, even if it contains drug residue, but the regulation regarding bong water remains.

“This is a great example of how an already absurd law becomes even more absurd after we decriminalize other paraphernalia,” DeKrey said.

According to court documents, officers said the bong water “weighed approximately 246 grams and was equivalent to approximately 230 ml.”

Under state law, 8 ounces of bong water is equivalent to 8 ounces of methamphetamine.

Beske’s attorney accused the Polk County District Attorney’s Office of being overzealous in bringing charges.

“Polk County is the district attorney’s office in Minnesota that overcharges me the most,” DeKrey said. “They are notorious for finding highly technical violations of the law that no one charges because everyone understands they are absurd.”

Dekrey says he will vigorously defend Beske, but also plans to challenge the law himself.

“So it doesn’t hurt other people who are struggling with addiction and have this kind of paraphernalia in their car that are suddenly being charged like they’re the El Chapo of Minnesota,” DeKrey said. “This is the highest drug charge you can get in Minnesota. They put them on par with people who are selling massive amounts of drugs. And I can’t stress this enough: This is discarded bong water.”

Scott Buhler, the assistant district attorney prosecuting Beske’s case, declined to comment.

“I will not comment on a pending case,” he wrote in an email to WDAY News. “However, the Minnesota Supreme Court has already ruled on this issue. See State v. Peck, 773 NW2d 768 (Minn. 2009).”

Mike McGurran has been a reporter and anchor at WDAY-TV since 2021.