Druggie uses frost as defence

[freddie]

Pretty bad headline. Hate the word "druggie" especially when it relates to cannabis.

Druggie uses frost as defence

 

Margo Zlotkowski

 

Thursday, May 21, 2009

 

© The Cairns Post

 

 

 

A WOMAN busted with almost 1000 dope plants was spared jail yesterday after she blamed the harsh Tableland frosts for needing to grow such a big crop.

 

Chauntelle Denise McCosh, 38, pleaded guilty to producing 550 marijuana plants in an irrigated, fenced-off paddock, as well as tending a nursery of 360 seedlings on Ravenshoe acreage, but her defence counsel argued it was not a commercial operation.

 

"It was simply to cater for the significant attrition rate of growing these plants through winter in Ravenshoe, which is one of the coldest areas on the Tableland," solicitor Philip Bovey told the Cairns Supreme Court hearing.

 

"They were planted in April and would ultimately have come to maturity in July and that would involve growing through the winter months in Ravenshoe; an area of significant frosts."

 

Frost to hit Tableland

 

Mr Bovey said the few plants strong enough to survive would have been enough for the use of Ms McCosh and her partner, claiming commercial quantities would be grown hydroponically or in hothouses.

 

"They would not grow it outdoors where it would be ravaged by the harsh winter," Mr Bovey said.

 

Crown prosecutor Michael Connolly said the crop, found during a police search of the Gold Coast Rd property on April 29 last year, was made up of rows of well-tended 25cm plants, surrounded by hay.

 

The 6cm seedlings were found in five styrofoam boxes on a nearby table.

 

"There are obviously a large number of plants although they weren’t fully grown," Mr Connolly said.

 

"There are concerns also that there was a nursery there … the site itself had a level of preparation that was indicative that a long-term production was intended.

 

"It indicates something more than a mere passing interest in cultivation."

 

Mr Bovey said his client, who had been with her partner for 17 years and home-schooled their three children, started using marijuana when her partner did to relieve back pain from an old work injury.

 

The couple then converted an old vegetable garden on their farm to grow dope for their own use.

 

He said the couple’s main source of income was a lucrative business breeding rare American bulldog puppies which they sold for $3500 apiece.

 

Justice Stanley Jones ordered Ms McCosh perform 180 hours of community service over the next 12 months and did not record a conviction.

 

Due to laryngitis, he reserved the reasons for his sentence until a later time.

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/05/2...local-news.html

 

 

Wow. 180 hours of community service for 1000 plants.

[Innocent criminal]

Wow is right freddie

 

makes me wonder whether that judge really had larangitis? or was it bong throat?

that couple must be feeling really lucky about now

 

and whoever wrote the headline should be sacked, the article is a little one sided, but the title is pure propaganda journalism.

Edited May 21, 2009 by TheHeadCing

[Indycar]

Pretty bad headline. Hate the word "druggie" especially when it relates to cannabis.

No worries freddie. Cannabis is no more or less a drug than caffiene, nicotine or alcohol. So the term "druggie" can be associated to just about everyone in society.

 

But yeah, I read this article this mornin' before you linked us up. One very lucky lady indeed. What she put forward in her defence does carry some weight, as Ravenshoe doesn't offer much up for growing anything, apart from ruggered bush land.

 

[Radic]

Justice Stanley Jones ordered Ms McCosh perform 180 hours of community service over the next 12 months and did not record a conviction.

 

imo

bit tuff

she should apiel

medicinal use

first offence eh

theres section that allows her to get off

cause if they send her to jail

because they can

due to the large number of plants under cultivation

than there is a 95% chance of her reoffending,

leading to her second apearance in court

yes most oz jails have a 95% re-offence rate

oz jails are a univerisity for criminals

so they try to keep first offenders out of jail

out of the best finishing school for criminals

and the judges know it

and thats is the stratigy they have in place

to combat the problem of high re-offence rates

more examples of how

they are loosing

the war on drugs

big time

 

forward ever

free cannabis

[luciddreaming]

HAHA that is an awesome defense. What if I grew 10 plants? Just say, well according to the outcome of that case I grew - 840 plants. Ergot, you guys owe me 4 million dollars, thank you goodbye. Edited May 21, 2009 by luciddreaming