An Athens middle school teacher who was arrested this week for allegedly manufacturing marijuana in his home is claiming he that he grew pot for medicinal purposes.

In a "Note to coworkers" published online through Google Docs, Joseph Weston LePage states that only two pot plants were seized during a search of his home on Wednesday, not the "several" that authorities said.

"Yesterday my home ... was raided in the confiscation of two flowering marijuana plants that I was cultivating for my own personal medicine," LePage wrote.

The teacher Friday afternoon confirmed he authored the document, but said he did not want to further discuss matters prior to obtaining legal representation. LePage teaches sixth-grade social studies at Clarke Middle School.

Despite his claim of growing marijuana for personal medicinal use, Athens-Clarke County Assistant Police Chief Fred Stephens said Friday that more than two marijuana plants and other evidence to sustain criminal charges were seized from the teacher's home. He would not specify how many plants were seized.

"This investigation has been referred to the District Attorney's Office for prosecution and we wish to not offer further case specific information which could unduly influence a fair and impartial outcome in the pending criminal proceedings," Stephens said.

The search of the teacher's West Lake Drive home and his subsequent arrest resulted from an investigation by the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force.

In addition to marijuana plants, drug agents found equipment used for marijuana-growing operations, and psilocybin, a hallucinogenic mushroom, police said.

The property sheet of a police incident report lists suspected hashish as also having been seized.

Police said they found a sufficient amount of pot and mushrooms to charge LePage with possession with intent to distribute both marijuana and a Schedule I drug.

He was additionally charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school, and felony possession of marijuana.

The teacher's residence is near Clarke Middle School and Alps Road Elementary School.

LePage does not address the psilocybin in his statement, but claims to never have been a drug dealer.

He states that after suffering a back injury five years ago that resulted in paralysis and back pain, "various regiments [sic] of narcotic pain drugs" plus medication to assist with sleep were prescribed.

"I am proud to say that my five-year dependency on heavy pharmaceuticals ended last December," LePage wrote. "I chose to cultivate and consume organic pain medicine rather than agree to a lifelong regimen of pharmaceuticals that came with debilitating side effects.

"Despite the real intent of my marijuana cultivation," the teacher wrote, "the mere possession of a live plant rendered me subject to the charge of 'intent to distribute.' So regardless of your opinions on the medical value of marijuana and my own usage of it, I need you all to know - I was never a drug-dealer."

LePage apologizes in the statement for being unable to finish the school year with colleagues.

A Clarke County School District spokesperson on Thursday said it was the district's policy to place employees on administrative leave pending the outcome of criminal investigations.

The teacher wrote, "I cannot tell you how much I will cherish the moments I shared with you all, particularly in the upcoming trials both literal and figurative that lie ahead. I will no doubt hearken back to all of the good we did and think of all the good that y'all continue to do and I know that will give me some much needed strength."

He also asks forgiveness for "the monumental distraction" that was likely caused in the school.

"I hope you all remember me as a loyal servant to our students and school and take each charge and approaching (news) article with a heavy grain of salt," LePage wrote.

"As said, I by no means claim innocence to the charge of growing my own cannabis, but to these charges of an 'operation' or 'distribution' I cannot condemn enough," he stated. "But I know that does not matter now. What matters now is the pain that I have inflicted on a community for which I so truly and so deeply care - and perhaps that action cannot be forgiven. Please tell our students that I'm sorry that I cannot be there and that I miss every single one of them dearly."

The teacher signed the note "Mr. LP."

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