Toowoomba man found with 530g of cannabis was ‘self medicating’

The 36-year-old claimed he had used the cannabis to help ease pain from his ailments.

The man found with 530g of cannabis said he was self-medicating for ailments.

A MAN found with more than half a kilogram of cannabis at his Toowoomba home claimed he had been self-medicating with the drug to help ease pain.

A police search of Kaleb John Thompson’s Toowoomba home on January 3 had found a shopping bag containing 465.9g of cannabis, 8.4g of “green leafy material” in clip seal bags, 1g in another clip seal bag and 55g of cannabis in another bag.

Also found were two pipes for smoking the drug, digital scales for weighing leaf and a number of empty clip seal bags, police prosecutor Natalie Bugden told Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

The 36-year-old told police all the items were hits and that he had it for his own personal use, Sergeant Bugden said.

Thompson pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous drug, possessing drug related utensils and possessing property suspected of having been used in connection with a drug offence.

Duty solicitor Amber Acreman, of David Burns Lawyers, conceded her client was found with “a very significant quantity of cannabis”.

However, the disability pensioner had a number of illnesses and he instructed he had been self-medicating with the drug when experiencing bad pain.

Her client realised he needed to seek a referral to a doctor who could prescribe him medical cannabis, she said.

Judge Howard Osborne placed Thompson on 12 months probation.