Detectives then spent two weeks interviewing people, including the family members, before arresting the two adults and one teenager on charges of possession of cannabis. The three were booked into the Scott County Jail where, of course, they received food and housing.

Each is being represented, at taxpayer expense, by different public defenders. The county attorney's office will prosecute them.

As the taxpayers' receipt grows longer, you might ask: Where are the victims? Why am I paying for this?

"I think, for the most part, they were just growing it for themselves," Scott County Sheriff's Lt. Bryce Schmidt said.

But considerable public resources go into protecting this family from itself. And that's only if you believe the pot was hurting them.

At least one family member quoted the Bible to police as justification for the marijuana use, Schmidt said.

Curious, I Googled "marijuana" and "scripture" and got 233,000 hits (so to speak). I read everything from defense of the "God-given herb" to God's offering to man of every "seed-bearing plant" in Genesis.