Marijuana Policy Project

CHESTERTON — A driver claiming he was suffering from anxiety asked an officer to get his medicine Monday afternoon. What the officer found was marijuana.

Vishal Garg, 24, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., faces misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia after pulling his car behind an officer’s marked vehicle in a construction zone at Indiana 49 and Interstate 94.

Garg was stopped between the northbound lane of Indiana 49 and the entrance ramp to eastbound I-94, a police report said.

An officer, at the construction area to patrol traffic noticed Garg stopped in the southbound lane, holding up traffic for a considerable period of time, talking on a cell phone.

The officer ordered Garg to move, after which he crossed a double yellow line across northbound traffic and pulled up behind the police car, continuing to talk on the phone.

Garg continued to talk on the phone even after the officer approached his car, and hung up only when ordered to do so.

After questioning by the officer, Garg said he was having an anxiety attack and asked for medical treatment.

Garg was placed in an ambulance and asked the officer to get his medication out of his backpack in his vehicle.

The officer found a smoking device with burnt residue inside a plastic bag, but no anxiety medicine. He also found a plastic container with marijuana leaves and seeds.

Garg directed the officer to another pipe in the glove compartment.

Garg was transported by ambulance to Porter hospital, then to the Porter County Jail.