15/11/2007 00:00:00
UK: Cannabis grown to avoid dodgy drugs
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A MAN claimed he grew a cannabis farm in his home because he didn't want
to get dodgy drugs from dealers.
Lee Ryan, 23, told a court he was growing 29 cannabis plants in his
bedroom to avoid buying drugs that had been contaminated with fibreglass.
Ryan was arrested after a raid on his home uncovered the haul with a
potential street value of £29,000.
The recreational drug user told Hartlepool Magistrates' Court he did it
for safety reasons after reading a news story warning cannabis smokers
that fibreglass was being mixed into cannabis resin.
The Mail reported in January that there was a countrywide trend of
cannabis resin being peppered with fibreglass to bulk up its weight and
that drug workers in Hartlepool were on red alert to seize contaminated
drugs.
Neil Taylor, mitigating, said: "He decided that if that was true, it was
dangerous and something he did not want to get involved in and he would
cultivate his own and it would be cheaper and safer because he would
know what was in it."
Prosecutor Samantha Morgan-Baylis told the court that Ryan's home, in
Calder Grove, Hartlepool, was searched by police on October 22.
She said: "Officers found cannabis in the form of 29 plants in a bedroom
with the usual paraphernalia."
A further search
revealed a quantity of cannabis resin in the kitchen and Ryan was
arrested and made full admissions in interview, the prosecutor said.
"He told officers that he had been growing the plants for four weeks and
that he was aware that it was unlawful," said Mrs Morgan-Baylis.
"Asked about the cannabis resin, he said that he bought it two days
earlier for £200."
He said that it was for his personal use and he smoked an ounce a week,
the court heard.
Mr Taylor said there is no suggestion that Ryan, who was previously
unconvicted, intended to supply and there is no way of putting a value
on the plants because they had not matured.
Ryan, who pleaded guilty to cultivating a controlled drug and possessing
a controlled class C drug, was fined £200.
They ordered him to pay £60 court costs and a £15 surcharge. Magistrates
also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.
http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/Cannabis-grown-to-avoid-dodgy.3489991.jp
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13009
Author:
Hartlepool Mail via UKCIA
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