Cannabis oil producer Jenny Hallam asks court for mercy so she can advocate for medical marijuana around the world
She “shared the joy” of pain-relieving cannabis before it was legal to do so – now this Adelaide pot producer has asked to be spared jail because her offending involved no harm and no victims.
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A woman who “shared the joy” of cannabis oil with others should be spared punishment so she can promote its pain-relieving benefits interstate and overseas, a court has heard.
On Tuesday, the District Court was told the not-for-profit Australian Cannabis University wanted to employ Jenny Hallam to spruik the drug’s effect upon chronic pain.
Greg Barns, for Hallam, said even a suspended prison term would jeopardise his client’s chance to help others worldwide, as a conviction would limit her travel options.
“She was doing what she needed to make her life tolerable, and then (experienced) the joy of wanting to share that with others,” he said.
“The purpose of the law is to prevent adverse health impacts and harm to others, but this is a case where there’s no evidence of harm and no victims.”
However, prosecutor Nick Wong said the self-described “medicinal cannabis supplier” had grown the drug prior to the start of government-regulated use in November 2017.
“She had no proper medical, scientific or clinical training, and the fact remains she was not qualified nor licensed to produce medicinal cannabis,” he said.
“There was no quality control of her products (and) it does not appear she performed due diligence before supplying people who contacted her on social media.”
In January 2017, SA Police raided Hallam’s home at Hillier, north of Gawler, seizing 35 plastic syringes and 212 capsules of cannabis oil.
They also found equipment needed to manufacture the oil, as well as cannabis-infused coconut oil.
Three months later, Hallam was charged with possession of a controlled drug for supply and manufacturing a controlled drug.
The case then fell into delay, with Hallam accusing prosecutors of “dragging it out” and “torturing” people who needed chronic pain relief.
In January 2018, she pleaded not guilty to the charges and was ordered to stand trial.
“I will stand in that courtroom proud and I will tell people that what I did was the right thing to do — the morally right thing to do,” she said outside court.
However, in February this year, Hallam posted a video to her Twitter account saying she “had to change my plea and I pleaded guilty”.
“Sorry to those who have supported me so far … I have taken this as far as I can possibly take it … I was silly when (the police) were raiding the house,” she said.
“I kept trying to make them feel guilty by telling them about the kids who had been receiving the oil that were going to die because they had taken that away.
“That stuffed me up because I was making admissions the whole time.”
On Tuesday, Mr Barns said his client had been injured in several car accidents, and had used cannabis to break her dependency on opioid pain relief.
“She did her own research, it’s not as if she just started growing some plants and smoking some joints,” he said.
“She then began meeting a demand (in the community) … her clients say there have been demonstrable improvements in their lives in terms of mobility and pain relief.
“We don’t have medical studies, it’s simply their own observations that, to put it simply, they are getting better.”
He said the university’s founder, Dolph Cooke, wanted Hallam to speak interstate and overseas about the importance of organic, rather than chemically-enhanced, cannabis.
That opportunity would see her relocate to NSW so Mr Cooke — a licenced and regulated supplier — could “harness her experience and passion”.
Judge Rauf Soulio remanded Hallam on continuing bail for sentencing next month.