Bemerside cannabis bust: Kimberli Martin caught with 29kg of marijuana
A sophisticated hydroponic cannabis grower busted with a “vast amount” of marijuana claimed he used the illegal drug for smoking and cooking for pain.
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A sophisticated hydroponic cannabis grower busted with a “vast amount” of marijuana claimed he used the illegal drug for smoking and cooking for pain, as well as preparing balms for skin cancer.
Kimberli Marsden Martin, a disability support pensioner, pleaded guilty in the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday to producing dangerous drugs, possessing almost 30 kilograms of cannabis, as well as possessing growing gear and drug utensils following a police raid on his home in Bemerside on December 11.
Prosecutor Kimberley Rogers-Ford said Martin, 67, was cooperative throughout the bust, declaring a high-tech grow room in a shed at the rear of his property where he was cultivating six mature cannabis plants.
She said that in addition, just under a kilogram of dried cannabis bud was drying on a rack, with a further 366 grams found in a safe and another 2.6 kilograms in a wok.
“He said that he commenced growing cannabis about four months beforehand for personal use to assist with his medical conditions.”
Ms Rogers-Ford said that despite convictions on weapons and drugs charges in 2023, she urged a further sentence of community service or probation for the “alarming amount” of cannabis, or a term of imprisonment, wholly suspended.
An incredulous Magistrate Cathy McLennan, who variously described the total 29 kilograms as “enormous” and “vast”, expressed interest why Ms Rogers-Ford was not recommending a jail term.
Defence lawyer Ms Brown argued the cannabis was solely for Martin’s medicinal use, submitting a sizable file detailing her disabled client’s medical history that detailed his nerve damage and how he had weaned himself off prescription medications in favour of the drug for pain relief.
“He does smoke some of the cannabis to alleviate some of the conditions he was suffering, however, he would cook with the cannabis: He would make cannabis oil; he’d make cannabis butter; he was also able to make a cannabis resin that he uses for his skin cancers rather than having them cut out.”
She said Martin, a retired meat worker and olive farmer, had reduced his intake of pain medication Lyrica from 500 to 600 grams a day to just 75 grams and consumed 60 grams of medically prescribed marijuana a month.
Ms Brown said the drug cost $135 per 10 grams, which consumed a large portion of his $1100 fortnightly pay check.
Magistrate McLennan noted from the outset that the two primary charges carried maximum jail terms of 20 and 14 years respectively.
She said, however, that the prosecution was not alleging commerciality.
“It defies belief,” she said.
Martin was convicted and jailed for a head sentence of 12 months, wholly suspended for two years.
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Originally published as Bemerside cannabis bust: Kimberli Martin caught with 29kg of marijuana
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