ICONIC GROWER EDDY LEPP

PRESENTS

Lepp’s legendary garden circa 2003.

Eddy Lepp is a medical marijuana POW whose courage and compassion have secured him a place in Cannabis history.

Reverence for the Reverend

Born in Illinois in 1952, Charles “Eddy” Lepp was the son of a soldier who spent his childhood moving around before eventually settling in Reno. In 1968, he enlisted in the Army alongside his brother, and was shipped off to Vietnam. After returning home, he spent the next two decades struggling with addiction, depression and PTSD – self-medicating with drugs and alcohol and engaging in self-destructive behavior. But when his father got cancer in the 1980s, he decided to get clean; the only intoxicant he didn’t give up was Cannabis.

“I used marijuana for years to keep from killing myself,” confesses Lepp. “I was using Cannabis to treat myself, but I didn’t realize that I was medicating because we didn’t have the information.”

That information came after Lepp met Dennis Peron and his future hero/ mentor Jack Herer, and his life changed forever.

“Back in the ‘80s I met Dennis and Jack, was very interested in what they were talking about, and got to be friends with them,” he recalls. “After that, I was kinda fucked, because you can’t be best friends with Dennis Peron and Jack Herer and not devote your life to marijuana.”

After his father died in 1988, Lepp checked himself into the National Center for PTSD in Palo Alto, Calif. It was there that he met his future wife – a young woman named Linda Senti. With the help of Linda, the Center and Cannabis, he was finally able to get sober and begin to heal.

“Cannabis was critically important in shaping my recovery and the man that I was going to become,” Lepp attests. “It allowed me to heal myself physically and mentally, and get back in touch with God as I understood him.”

CALLED TO ACTION

Eddy and Linda got married and eventually settled in Lake County, Calif. They became heavily involved in the legalization movement – helping to gather signatures for the Compassionate Use Act, then setting out to fulfill its promise by supplying medicine to patients … starting with Linda herself who, like Eddy’s father, had contracted cancer. In 1996, with Peron’s help, Lepp planted a garden of 132 plants for her – which he was arrested for later that year. When his case got to trial in 1998, he cited Prop 215 as his medical marijuana defense, and it worked – making him the first person ever acquitted under the aegis of the new law.

At the time, few doctors were willing to recommend Cannabis, so the

Lepps began shuttling patients down to Dr. Tod Mikuriya’s office in San Francisco each week for recommendations. Then in 1999, they purchased a 25-acre farm in Upper Lake and began hosting mobile clinics – bringing doctors and patients together for consultations on their property. Within a year, the Lepps had registered a third of the approximately 100,000 legal Cannabis patients in the state. But many patients were unable to procure, afford or grow medicine for themselves, so once again the Lepps stepped up – offering to grow some plants for a few patients they knew. Over the next few years, it became six patients, then a dozen, then 30. That’s how Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens came to be.

In addition to the garden, Lepp also founded a religious ministry: The Multi-Denominational Ministry of Cannabis and Rastafari.

Lepp with his late wife Linda, Dennis Peron, and Jack Herer.

THE HEALING FIELDS

It was a simple idea: create a haven where patients could all grow their medicine in one secure, well-tended garden – reducing costs and avoiding countless possible thefts, busts and other calamities. Lepp charged $500 per 10-foot plot, from which patients received all of the Cannabis harvested. And for those who couldn’t afford a plot, medicine was often provided free of charge. In addition to the garden, Lepp also founded a religious ministry: The Multi-Denominational Ministry of Cannabis and Rastafari. Identifying strongly with both the Native American and Rastafari religions, he became an ordained minister in 2000, adopted the title of Reverend, and began providing spiritual support. Until that point, the farm had operated with relative impunity thanks to an understanding between Lepp and the Sheriff’s Department. But that accord ended one afternoon in 2002, when the Lake County Nar- JASON DUNLAP Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens sign. cotics Task Force raided the farm – confiscating around 400 plants and arresting She started crying and said, ‘We can’t say no to any of them.’ four people. Surprisingly, they ended And we never did.” up being released the next day and no charges were ever pursued. “You can’t be best friends The DEA raided the farm again on February 16, 2005 – seizing another 6000 plants, re-arresting Lepp, and charging By 2003, the Ministry was servicing 100 patients and growing nearly 10,000 plants. Lepp made no atwith Dennis Peron and Jack Herer and not devote him with cultivation and possession with intent to distribute. He wasn’t released until two months later, on a $500,000 bond (thanks in part to a $10,000 donation from comedian tempt to hide what he was doing – in fact, he actually sent a letter stating your life to marijuana." Joe Rogan). His lawyers planned a two-pronged his intentions to local and state -EDDY LEPP medical and religious use defense, both For more on Eddie Lepp, listen officials, but never received a reply. of which were ultimately rejected by to Episode #9 of our podcast Emboldened by the lack of legal repercussions, they doubled the judge. Lepp was convicted in 2007, and after several unsuccessful at worldofCannabis.museum/ down on their efforts – purchasing property across the road appeals, returned for sentencing in May 2008. podcast. and expanding their gardens up to 40 acres, which soon With the total charges against him, Lepp was facing an incredible contained nearly 4,000 plots and 30,000 plants. four life sentences, plus 40 years and $17 million in fines. Luckily, the Published originally on Unlike other outdoor grows, which were typically small and secret, Eddy’s Gardens could be seen (and smelled) while cruising down Highway 20, which now ran straight through judge sentenced him to only the mandatory minimum of 10 years. He served eight and a half of those years before being released on parole in December 2016. While he was behind bars, both his beloved worldofCannabis.museum and reprinted with permission. the middle of his farm. That summer, Lepp even invited High Linda and best friend Jack Herer passed away. Times magazine out, who then recognized the garden as the largest medical marijuana grow in the world – and Eddy RELEASE AND REVERENCE himself as their Freedom Fighter of the Year. Since his release, Lepp has mostly tried to stay out of trouble: spending his time creating art, hosting a podcast, and attending Cannabis events in CONVICTED FOR HIS CONVICTIONS California. Sadly, in October 2020, he announced that he too is now bat-

Unfortunately, though, all of that attention brought about tling cancer, which has metastasized into his lungs and brain; his new wife their undoing. On August 18, 2004, the DEA swarmed their Sandra has created a GoFundMe page to help cover his medical costs. property, arresting Lepp and 14 residents and workers at Eddy Lepp is a modern-day marijuana martyr whose bravery, conviction gunpoint. It reportedly took authorities two days to chainsaw and sacrifices helped pave the way for the freedoms we enjoy today. down the 32,524 plants, which they valued at around $80 Regardless of whether he chooses to use the title or not, our reverence million. It was the largest medical crop seizure from an indi- toward the reverend remains. vidual in U.S. history.

“Linda said to me, ‘I just wish sometimes it wasn’t so overwhelming,’” Lepp remembers. “And I replied, “Well, I’ll do whatever you want … you pick the first person we say no to.” Donate to Eddy’s medical fund at GoFundMe.com/eddyleppneedsyou. Eddy and his wife, Sandra.