Alan Joseph Pettigrew in court for growing cannabis
A 52-year-old man’s attempt to avoid an expensive medicinal prescription led to a collection of cannabis hidden in the bush near Gympie. See what it cost him.
Police & Courts
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A 52-year-old man’s attempt to avoid an expensive medicinal prescription led to a collection of cannabis hidden in the bush.
Alan Joseph Pettigrew pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on Monday to producing cannabis, and to possessing cannabis, heating lamps and two water pipes.
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Pettigrew’s home was searched by police at 8.30am on October 27 in Anderleigh, the court heard.
He led police to a shed on the property to show the officers what he was keeping inside.
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Inside were 56 potted cannabis plants growing under heat lamps.
He said he was watering, fertilising and maintaining the plants to use for medicinal purposes, the court heard.
The court heard that during his conversation with police, Pettigrew mentioned there were a further six plants growing naturally on the property.
When the entire area was searched, police found another 42 plants in a bush area.
The plants were “quite high in size” and divided to into five fenced sections, police prosecutor Vicki Kennedy-Grills said.
The crop connected to multiple buckets and an irrigation set-up.
Pettigrew admitted he moved the plants from the shed to the bush area once they grew to a certain size.
He had a total of 104 plants on the property.
There was no evidence regarding commercial use, Sergeant Kennedy-Grills said.
Chris Anderson told the court his client had a type of cancer growing in his eye and had recently seen a specialist.
The specialist told him a medicinal cannabis prescription would cost him about $1700 per month which pushed Pettigrew to grow the drug on his own.
Following his arrest, he saw another practitioner and is now on a medicinal program that costs him up to $900 per month
He was fined $750 and convictions were recorded.
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