Parzybok is a card-holder himself, documents show, and as such can legally possess a 60-day supply of marijuana, or 10 ounces. But during their search of his home at 30 Norwood Street on Sept. 22 investigators seized 46 pot plants, about 70 jars containing what police identified as marijuana oil and 20 one-gallon bags of marijuana.
Massachusetts State Police have filed drug distribution charges against a Northampton medical marijuana consultant after finding large amounts of pot in his home during a raid in September, according to court documents.
Ezra Parzybok, 41, is an outspoken advocate in the community for medical marijuana use. He consults patients on how to legally grow cannabis and how to obtain a medical marijuana card through his business, High End Cannabis Consulting.
Parzybok is a card-holder himself, documents show, and as such can legally possess a 60-day supply of marijuana, or 10 ounces. But during a search of his home at 30 Norwood Street on Sept. 22 investigators seized 46 pot plants, about 70 jars containing what police identified as marijuana oil and 20 one-gallon bags of marijuana, as well as tools for packaging pot.
Massachusetts State Police filed a complaint against Parzybok on Oct. 8, with two counts of possession with the intent to distribute a class D drug, or marijuana, and one count of possession with intent to distribute a class C drug, a category that includes Valium, Hydrocodone, psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics.
Court documents did not make clear which class C drug investigators may have found in Parzybok's home.
"Ezra has no comment on police action or the complaint at this time, but we expect to formally comment on these actions within the next two weeks," said Michael D. Cutler of Northampton, Parzybok's lawyer.
On Sept. 22, detectives from the Northwestern District Attorney's Anti-Crime Task Force were assigned to assist the Massachusetts National Guard Counter Drug Unit in "marijuana eradication" efforts throughout Hampshire County, court documents show. A National Guard helicopter used for the operation was manned with trained spotters tasked with locating outdoor marijuana grows.
The team was prompted to investigate Parzybok's house when the helicopter crew saw pot plants growing on its second-floor porch, reports said.
Detectives knocked on Parzybok's door around noon but no one answered, police said. Members of the National Guard then walked into the backyard as the helicopter circled above, and allegedly found 21 marijuana plants in flower beds and along the home's perimeter. They also discovered a small white paper bag on the porch with a green logo featuring the words "High End," which contained several small jars with various strains of the plant, reports said.
Investigators noted reflective shielding hanging from a clothes line in the back of the residence, an apparatus that usually indicates an indoor marijuana grow.
Parzybok arrived 15 minutes later and provided police with a valid Massachusetts medical marijuana card. He agreed to the search of his home, at which time Northampton police were called to assist.
Detectives found growing lights and other tools and instruments associated with growing weed in the basement, police said, as well as two-dozen jars of marijuana oil and twenty gallon nags of marijuana in the refrigerator. Police also located two rooms consistent with the description of a grow room, and another room for drying the plant, reports said. Neither of the rooms were in use.
Another room was identified by police as a manufacturing and packaging space, as it held several boxes of mason jars and glass droppers labeled "High End." A hot crock pot contained an unknown black, oily substance that was still cooking, detectives said.
Seized from that room were the following items, according to reports: 36 jars of marijuana oil; 19 glass droppers containing an unknown liquid substance; nine receipts labeled with names and money amounts paid and owed; three weight scales; $1,640 in cash retrieved from several envelopes with names written on them; and various amounts of "green vegetable matter" believed to be marijuana.
For his consulting work, Parzybok advises card-holders on dosage, strain selection and medical efficacy of pot, and also holds lectures for health service providers and health care institutions.
"It is my goal to help adults understand this age-old plant and to break cultural stereotypes by being as upfront, helpful, and open as possible," his professional website reads.
Parzybok's arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 3, documents show.