Cannabis oil producer Jenny Hallam faces jail after being charged with criminal offences
A SOUTH Australian cannabis oil producer has been charged with criminal offences which carry potential jail terms of at least 10 years.
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A SOUTH Australian cannabis oil producer has been charged with criminal offences which carry potential jail terms of at least 10 years.
Jenny Hallam, of Hillier, was served with a summons at the Gawler Police Station on Friday afternoon alleging she had been found in possession of cannabis oil for supply and had manufactured a controlled drug.
Speaking live on social media outside the police station, she urged her supporters to rally behind her as she prepared to face court in early May.
The charge of manufacturing a controlled drug — depending on the quantity — is a major indictable offence which carries a minimum term of imprisonment of seven years and a maximum term of life. Fines range from $35,000 to $500,000.
“I can’t believe this government is going to prosecute someone for trying to save people’s lives,” she said.
“They are not going to look after the poor, they are not going to look after the needy, they are not going to look after the people they are supposed to be supporting.
“What they are going to do is charge people like me who are making cannabis oil and supplying it to people who are sick and dying.”
Ms Hallam, 44, said she would not stop her campaign for cannabis oil to become a legal medical aid for people suffering terminal illness or chronic pain.
“Let’s see if they have the guts to follow it through and put me in jail for it,” she said.
“I don’t care if I go to jail. They are not going to stop me from doing what I am doing, they are not going to stop me from talking. I am going to be out there screaming just as loud.”
Ms Hallam’s lawyer, Heather Stokes, on Friday night demanded an explanation from the State Government about why the charges had been laid during an intense public debate about cannabis oil.
“I would like to know why, without notifying me as her lawyer, these charges have been laid and whether there has been any political involvement,” she said.
Ms Hallam’s house at Hillier, near Gawler, was raided by drug squad detectives in January, with officers seizing products, chemicals and equipment related to the production of cannabis oil.
A long time advocate for medicinal cannabis, Ms Hallam regularly has used social media since the raid to promote its benefits and argue for its legislation.
More than 200 people attended a protest rally on the steps of Parliament House in late January to support Ms Hallam, who used the event to call on the State Government to follow Victoria’s lead and legalise medical cannabis.