Port Noarlunga man Dylan Rushby sentenced over manufacturing plant-based drugs

A Port Noarlunga father has been spared jail after police found him manufacturing three different types of drugs in his shed.

A devoted dad who was found with a “makeshift lab” in his Port Noarlunga home has been spared jail after manufacturing three different drugs.

Dylan Rushby, 44, was sentenced in the Adelaide Magistrates Court earlier this week after pleading guilty to three counts of manufacturing a controlled drug.

In sentencing, Magistrate John Wells explained how Rushby’s intrigue with gardening saw him before the courts.

Dylan Rushby pleaded guilty to manufacturing a controlled drug.

“I can conclude that you were naive about the seriousness of what you were doing,” Mr Wells said.

“You appear to have a curiosity about plant based psychoactive substances, that interest led to your offending.”

On October 14, 2022, Rushby was involved in helping harvest and stripping cannabis plants.

Due to that offending, police attended Rushby’s Port Noarlunga home the following day where they found him in his garden shed with numerous materials consistent with a “makeshift laboratory”.

“Police found glassware, plastic tubs, electric grinders as well as liquids and compounds,” Mr Wells said.

“You were in the process of extracting DMT from acacia bark using a solvent extraction process.”

The court heard there was 1.32g of extracted DMT and a further 50ml of yellow liquid that had evaporated into a residue.

There were also mushrooms that were no further advanced than germinating spores.

Dylan Rushby submitted it was his love of horticulture that lead to his offending.

At an earlier hearing, Jon Lister, defence counsel for Rushby, submitted how his general interest with horticulture led him to experiment with the prohibited substances.

“It was his developed interest in these areas that led him to branch out to the prohibited area, something for which he is deeply sorry,” Mr Lister said.

“He accepts now that he shouldn’t have done it but it was his general interest.”

Rushby, who is also a qualified bee cultivator, submitted to the court “he could not believe the level of trouble he was in”.

In regard to the DMT, Rushby submitted he had interest in the natural plant based, psychedelic substances which allows the mind to be explored through broadening consciousness.

The substance is often used during religious ceremonies in South America, which Rushby was interested in exploring.

However, in his sentencing, Mr Wells said that although all the drugs found were for personal use, the level of planning was still of concern.

“You clearly knew these drugs were illegal and you did not curtail your involvement with them,” he said.

“It is a matter of concern that you produced three separate types of controlled drugs.

“This was not momentary or impulsive offending, your conduct involved planning and ongoing involvement.”

Rushby was ordered to pay $1500 in fines and also complete 110 hours of community work over the next 18 months.

A conviction was recorded.