Court hears cost of legal cannabis drove Darling Downs residents to grow their own
Darling Downs residents with a knack for gardening found themselves in hot water after police found their cannabis crops.
Two Crows Nest residents fronted Toowoomba court in December after police uncovered their cannabis crops.
In late November, the magistrates court heard police uncovered 33 plants and more than 40 grams of bud and leaf at Ryan Lachlan Proud’s home.
The 21-year-old former lifeguard fronted court on Tuesday, December 9, and pleaded guilty to possessing and producing cannabis and possessing drug paraphernalia.
The court heard that when the crop was found during a raid, Proud told the officer he had a prescription for the drug and started growing it because he couldn’t afford to buy it legally.
The aspiring defence force worker was fined $1200 and had no conviction recorded.
The other Darling Downs resident who fronted court for producing cannabis, Trina Elaine Hartwig, also told police she decided to grow a plant because she couldn’t afford to obtain the drug legally.
The 64-year-old also pleaded guilty to producing cannabis before the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Tuesday, December 9.
The court heard police were at her Crows Nest home for an unrelated matter on November 19, when she was forthright and told the officers she had one plant in a back shed.
The former farm worker, who suffered from arthritis and a back injury, said she used the drug for pain management and chose not to get a prescription because she had no means to pay for it.
The retiree was placed on a $350 good behaviour bond, which will run for four months, and had no conviction recorded.
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Originally published as Court hears cost of legal cannabis drove Darling Downs residents to grow their own
