A middle-aged man from Hinchinbrook has been fined, after appearing in court over a home cannabis setup that would be legal in the ACT.
The man, described as “unassuming” and “middle-aged” by the Townsville Bulletin, recently appeared in Ingham Magistrates Court. He faced a number of charges, including possessing drugs, possessing drug-paraphernalia, producing dangerous drugs and improper care of four hypodermic needles.Â
In court, the Queensland local simply responded “no” when asked if he had anything to say in defence to the charges. He pleaded guilty.Â
He was originally arrested after a raid on his Warren Street home, in Ingham. The raid was carried out by Queensland police at 8.40 am on January 9th.
At the home, officers located a single mature cannabis plant in the garden and four cannabis seedlings in the living room. The seedlings were growing in a makeshift hydroponics set up.Â
According to statements made by police prosecutor Senior Constable Erin Collis in court, police also located a bong for smoking cannabis, four hypodermic needles and 3.5 grams of cannabis after a search of the home. According to street prices of weed in Australia, the dried cannabis is worth around $63.Â
In court, Acting Magistrate Scott Luxton described the set up as sophisticated for a personal cannabis crop. Magistrate Luxton also noted that the man had prior criminal convictions from 20 and 30 years ago, and was charged for producing dangerous drugs in 2017.
The Magistrate then warned the man to be careful with how he used cannabis in future.
If you continue to use, then obviously you are going to be back before the court … the court will, in a very short time, look at imposing sentences beyond a fine.
While he would still have been charged for the hypodermic needles and hydroponics equipment, had the Hinchinbrook man lived in the ACT (where cannabis has been successfully legalised for a year), the man would have been considered a passionate gardener, not a cannabis criminal.Â
The man was convicted and fined $1,200 for his cannabis crop.