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A 46-year-old woman who set up a cannabis grow house to produce cannabis oil for her arthritis ended up producing a first crop of the drug that was so rotten she couldn’t give it away, a court has heard.
Avril Smith pleaded guilty in Cork Circuit Criminal Court to possession of € 27,000 worth of cannabis herb and to growing 33 mature cannabis plants with a street value of € 26,000 in a house on Ballyviniter Lower in Mallow el November 19, 2018.
Det Garda Will Hosford of the Mallow District Drug Squad said that when Gardaí raided the home, they found 33 mature plants, along with a quantity of cannabis herb, and Smith took full responsibility for both when asked. about them.
She told Gardaí that she suffered from arthritis and that she found cannabis helpful for the condition. He said his plan was to turn the drug into cannabis oil to treat his arthritis and he went through the entire oil production process with gardaí.
However, he told gardaí that the cannabis herb from his first harvest proved unsuccessful and quickly began to rot and actually look discolored, Det Garda Hosford said. Said Smith told gardai she couldn’t give it away or even smoke it herself, it was so rotten.
Det Garda Hosford said Smith was direct and honest with Gardai from the beginning about the drugs and found no evidence of any other equipment, such as scales or packing equipment associated with drug trafficking.
Judge Sean O Donnabhain said he accepted the garda’s evidence regarding his belief that Smith was not involved in drug trafficking and noted that the collected drugs found at the facility had passed their expiration date.
He said that in all the circumstances, including Smith’s guilty plea and the fact that she had no relevant prior convictions, he believed that a deterrent sentence rather than a prison sentence was appropriate and gave her a two-year suspended sentence.
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