COURT: Woman left $1K out of pocket for cannabis bulk buy

BULK buying is a great way to save money, but stocking up on cannabis will cost you in the courthouse.

A woman has been slapped with a $1000 fine after bulk buying nearly half a kilogram of cannabis. File Photo.

A WOMAN’s attempt to save cash through bulk buying cannabis has backfired terribly, seeing her leave Kingaroy Magistrates Court yesterday with a hefty $1000 dollar fine.

Leah Olsens pleaded guilty to two charges before the court yesterday (September 14), including possessing dangerous drugs and drug utensils, namely a water pipe.

At 11.30am on June 26, police executed a search warrant of Olsens’ Kingaroy home, subsequently locating 429 grams of cannabis and a water pipe, which had been used.

According to police prosecutor Sergeant Pepe Gangemi, Olsens told officers the drugs were hers and they were strictly for personal use.

Olsens’ defence lawyer, Mark Werner, said the reason why this is a significant matter was due to the weight of cannabis. He said his client instructed him this was partly due to the unfortunate timing of the raid, since the drugs had just been purchased.

“This is someone with no criminal history and not wanting to deal with the sort of people that might be selling cannabis on a regular basis,” Mr Werner said.

“She just purchased that large amount of cannabis in one go because it’s less expensive to do so.”

Mr Werner said his client turned to cannabis for stress relief to help her cope with her current financial situation, after her partner became injured and the family was forced to live off their superannuation.

“I’m told it’s for recreational use and stress relief. There’s no commerciality alleged in any case,” Mr Werner said.

Olsens was convicted and fined $1000, which she will have two months to pay. Due to her current financial situation, she will be required to pay the fine out of her superannuation.

“I accept there is no commerciality here. This is a bulk purchase,” Magistrate Andrew Sinclair said.

“It’s not an ideal way to spend superannuation. I’m quite sure this is not what the government had in mind when it allowed it to be released to people for hardship.”

No conviction was recorded.

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