When Aaron Palmer was arrested outside his Covington, Washington, home on May 7 for growing pot in his garage, he didn't suspect that his own 17-year-old son, Trever Palmer, was the one who called the police. A single father raising three children--17-year-old Trever, 15-year-old daughter Ashley, and a seven-year-old son--Palmer, a computer programmer, had been smoking pot most of his adult life.

After the King County Sheriff's office put out a press release praising Trever Palmer for turning in his father, the media had a field day. Aaron Palmer's 14 pot plants somehow became 40 pot plants; it was widely and erroneously reported that the police found scales, baggies, and bundled marijuana ready for sale in his house. Television reporters who invaded Palmer's home while he was in prison for two days portrayed him as a danger to his three children. The Seattle Post- Intelligencer called Aaron Palmer a drug dealer in a headline and suggested that Trever Palmer be given a reward for turning in his father.

On Thursday, September 19, Aaron Palmer was sentenced to time served and 28 days of community service.

What went through your mind when you drove up to your house on May 7 and saw the police?

My heart jumped into my throat, because I knew it had to be about the pot--why else would they be there?

When did you find out that your own son was the person who called the police?The next day, when I was still in jail. My daughter told me on the phone. She said, "Dad, Trever did it." She figured it out from the way he was acting. To go from not being able to figure it out to being hit with that kind of information, it was all I could do not to rip the phone off the wall.

Why do you think Trever turned you in?After last Christmas, I wanted to move home to California. There are no jobs here [in Washington], and I knew could get work down there. I kept checking in with my kids, asking them how they felt about moving and going to different schools. Trever and I butted heads. It was his senior year, and he wanted to stay here. When I checked in with him again in April, he seemed to be warming to the idea. I told all of my kids, okay, we're going to do this, we're going to sell the house, we're going to move. The next thing I know, I'm in jail.

So you think that's why he turned you in?Yes. He didn't want to move. He thought being arrested would force me to stay in Washington.

Have you spoken to Trever since your arrest?Oh, yeah. Quite a few times. On the phone and in person. The conversations we have aren't very personal. It's just "How are you," "Fine," "How are you doing in school." Real short questions and answers. It's not like it was.

How long have you been smoking pot?On and off since age 18. When I was a kid, I tried it to try it, for all the usual reasons. After I got out of the military with my back messed up and my arthritis, it helped me relax enough and it decreased the pain enough for me to work and be a parent, which is hard work itself.

You were a single parent raising three kids. Your ex-wife was on the news after your arrest. How did you wind up with custody of your kids?We have joint custody, but the kids decided they wanted to live with me. My ex-wife had a problem with alcohol. My kids knew their dad smoked pot, and they also knew I provided them with a stable home life. I put food on the table, I got their clothes washed, I could help them with their homework. The choice was theirs. They still visit their mother. She's their mother, and I respect her. We were together for a long time. But that's the real irony in all of this. When Trever chose to live with me, he knew I smoked pot. [Editor's note: The Stranger contacted Aaron Palmer's ex-wife, and she maintains that she didn't take the kids because she moved into a studio apartment after the divorce. "Yeah, I drank," she said, "but it wasn't possible for me to take my kids and go live in a studio."]

When did you start growing pot?I started growing pot in 1996, because it's too expensive to buy. I wasn't selling it to anyone; it was for my own use.

Do you imagine you'll ever reconcile with your son?It's up to him at this point. He bit this off, and he's got to chew on it awhile. When he digests all this--it may take months or years, but when he does--I think he'll apologize.

Any advice for other parents out there who use marijuana?Like I told 'em at Hempfest, we need to counter the disinformation. My kids had D.A.R.E. programs in their schools. [The instructors] hold up a bong in front of the class and say, "Has anyone seen one of these in their house?" Some stupid kid is telling the D.A.R.E. cop who teaches the program, "Yeah, my brother or my dad has one!" I pulled my kids out of that class. They told me some of the things they were being told about pot, and I told them, "They want you to believe it's this monster drug. They're wrong." We need to tell kids the truth about pot. I was lied to about it, and later on when I took a hit off a joint and didn't turn into a raving lunatic, like I was told I would, I was like, "What else is a lie?" Kids will say, "They lied to me about this drug, pot. I wonder if what they told me about this drug heroin is a lie too?"

Has the P-I or the Seattle Times or KIRO-TV--all the media outlets that labeled you a drug pusher--contacted you about telling your side of the story?Nope. No one from KIRO, KOMO, KING, or the papers has said, "We'd like to hear your story, correct the record." For instance, there were no scales in my house--which I would need if I were selling pot--but everyone reported that I had scales. My supposed scales were all over the papers and TV. But I have the list of stuff the police took from my house, and there're no scales on that list.

I don't think much of the media now, not after what was done to me. They don't care about the truth--it's only what they want to portray. KIRO-TV was the worst. They interviewed my daughter and she only had good things to say about me, so they only let her talk for three seconds. Then they muted my daughter and kept showing her face while Karen O'Leary talked over her. Ashley is saying I was a good dad, and that bitch Karen O'Leary is telling people that my daughter is saying that I had big problems and that's why I turned to drugs. It was garbage.

How much debt are you in as a result of this?With legal fees and fines, by the time it's all said and done, I'm in for about $10,000.

Still smoking pot?Yes. The judge didn't tell me I couldn't.

Aaron Palmer is now living in California with his daughter and younger son. The Stranger is organizing a benefit to help pay for Palmer's legal expenses. Look for details in an upcoming issue.