In my opinion, if this man has not done harm, then he doesn't deserve any punishment.
comment on:
Brighton man grew cannabis "to ease his depression", The Argus, August 7 2011
A former probation worker grew cannabis to help ease his depression, a court was told.
Timothy Parry, 44, set up a small cannabis factory in the basement of a house in Dyke Road, Brighton.
He disguised the entrance by putting up a wooden structure around it.
Police found up to 30 plants growing there when they raided the building on March 24.
A hydroponics growing system and a calendar detailing when the crop would be ready to harvest was found inside.
Police discovered documents with Parry’s details on, and took away a cigarette end, beer cans and a coffee cup for analysis.
Bridget Norfolk, prosecuting, said forensic tests confirmed the father-of-three’s DNA was on the items seized.
Police also found more than an ounce of cannabis in a safe at Parry’s home in Windmill Street, Brighton.
He pleaded guilty to cultivating and possessing cannabis for his own use during a hearing at Brighton Magistrates Court.
The court was told Parry had smoked cannabis for 15 years to relax and ease his depression.
He will be sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on a date to be fixed.
I detest the way the media refer small time growers as having a cannabis "factory", does it look like I could run a FACTORY in my 3 bed semi, err no!!!
ReplyDeleteIf this is the lengths the police and judicial system are prepared to go to to punish small time growers then, well, me and Sanj are screwed!
How much has that cost the tax payer? Crown court for sentencing?
ReplyDeleteMost importantly, the only criminal here is the state, he will possibly lose his job and his mortgage and if that happens he will have to move out of the community he lives in.... It all equals a shattered life or lives if he has a family.
No victim no crime.
Sirs, The prosecution of Brighton man Timothy Parry was neither wise nor compassionate (Brighton man grew cannabis "to ease his depression", The Argus, August 7 2011)
ReplyDeleteParry was arrested for growing cannabis plants in his own home, for his own use to combat depression.
He will be up for sentencing at Lewes Crown Court on a date to be fixed.
Yet, bearing in mind that Mr Parry appears not to have threatened or harmed anyone or their property - his crime was "victimless"- what should the Judge justifiably do? Nothing!
Mr Parry claimed he has used cannabis for 15 years for ease his depression and for relaxation - why should he be punished for that?
Now I guess he will have to resort to far more dangerous and costly pharmaceutical drugs, risking side-effects, overdoes and addiction - at huge cost to the taxpayer.
I am convinced that the Misuse of Drugs Act, which bans the possession and cultivation of cannabis without an almost-impossible to obtain Home Office license, was not meant to stop people from growing plants that benefit their physical or mental condition.
Whilst Parry and others like him are dragged through the courts, just up the road GW Pharmceuticals are busy growing strong varieties of cannabis to extract the same active ingredients in alcohol, to produce the medicinal spray "Sativex", now available at such a high cost to the NHS that many authorities are refusing to supply it.
Whilst the big companies are legally able to make massive profits from cannabis, ordinary people are punished for growing plants!
Something is terribly wrong with the law!
Alun Buffry
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9182315.Brighton_man_grew_cannabis__to_ease_his_depression_/?action=success