‘Trying to help sick people’: Naturopath Emma Kate Stachiw faces jail for supply and manufacture of cannabis oil

A northern NSW naturopath facing jail for growing cannabis and producing oil says she was “trying to help sick people”, like Parkinson's disease and cancer patients. Find out more.

Emma Kate Stachiw says she was trying to help people suffering chronic pain.

A Coffs Coast naturopath faces the prospect of time behind bars for producing cannabis oil she says she was providing as a medicine for Parkinson's and cancer sufferers.

Emma Kate Stachiw said she told police raiding her home she had nothing to hide and offered them a cup of tea.

The 43-year-old worked at the Coffs Harbour Medical Specialists Centre as a naturopath until December 2020, treating people suffering chronic health conditions including Parkinson’s disease, cancer and other painful issues.

“I was asked almost daily about medicinal cannabis,” she said.

“I made the decision, albeit illegally, … to grow and make medicinal cannabis oil products for my patients.”

Emma Kate Stachiw has faced court charged with growing cannabis and manufacturing cannabis oil.

Medicinal cannabis has been legal in Australia since 2016, with 100,000 prescriptions written for chronic pain sufferers in 2022.

However, naturopaths are not licenced to prescribe the drug to patients.

In July, 2021 police raided the home of the single mum from Hydes Creek, arrested her and charged her with 19 indictable offences.

Ms Stachiw said the arrest was carried out in front of her daughters and she spent 30 hours in lock up.

She pleaded guilty to possessing, supplying, and manufacturing cannabis oil and growing the plants to make the oil, after making full admissions to police during the raid.

Cannabis oil.

Police found more than ten cannabis plants, which Ms Stachiw said would be processed entirely into cannabis oil for medicinal purposes.

Ms Stachiw said she was hit with supply charges after police found about 200 grams of mouldy cannabis leaves in her shed, which she was going to compost.

Emma Stachiw.

She said two jars of cannabis oil were sitting in the fridge totalling about two litres, made up of mostly coconut oil.

Ms Stachiw said she was handing out the oil to help people after surgeries and to manage chronic pain.

“I'm just trying to help sick people,” she said.

“I’m just a good Samaritan.”

Police found THC (Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis, present in the oil. Ms Stachiw was charged with manufacturing a prohibited drug larger than the commercial quantity – an offence that can land someone in prison for decades.

Cannabis oil. File image.

According to the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, the relevant weight of the substance someone is charged over is the “admixture”, which includes the entire weight and volume of the substance – including its container.

Ms Stachiw was charged the equivalent of possessing about two kilograms of cannabis.

She said she has pushed to have the purity tested to see how much THC was detectable.

Properly produced medicinal cannabis oil does not make a user ‘high’.

Ms Stachiw knows she was breaking the law, but said: “It‘s complete bullying. They’ve turned my life upside down.”

Emma Kate Stachiw says her life has been “turned upside-down”. Picture: Facebook.

“There seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors and it's all very political – and really ugly,” she said.

“Prior to being charged with these offences, I had an unblemished criminal history.”

Ms Stachiw has been crowd-funding “to rally support to help me fight a legal battle relating to my professional use of medicinal cannabis for my patients”.

“I am running a private crowd-funding campaign because the content has been censored off the major platforms,” she states online.

Ms Stachiw writes she has raised more than $12,290 of a $60,000 target.

She faces sentencing at Lismore District Court later this year.