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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis pensioner delighted to be free
Runcorn Weekly News, UK
Thursday 16 Mar 2006 AN OAP escaped jail for running a cannabis farm in his back bedroom after he promised to stop growing the drug. But 73-year-old Leslie Williams said he would still smoke cannabis, if it was offered him, because it helps to ease his arthritis. Speaking after receiving a two-year conditional discharge for cultivating cannabis at his home in Stone Barn Lane, Palacefields, Runcorn, he said: 'I won't go out looking for it, but I would smoke it if it was offered to me.' Judge David Hale warned Williams, who has suffered four strokes in the past 20 years, that he would face 'serious consequences' if he was caught with cannabis again. Warrington Crown Court heard on Friday that Williams had received a caution in May last year for growing the drug after police broke in when neighbours raised the alarm. Williams said 'I was expecting to go to prison for three months, so I feel elated. I think the law should be changed so people can smoke cannabis for medicine. 'I've been worried out of my head about this.' The haul was discovered when police raided his semi-detached home on January 27 after a tipoff. They asked Williams if he was growing cannabis at the address. He replied: 'Yes. It's upstairs in the bedroom.' There officers discovered 'sophisticated' growing apparatus and a score of healthy plants. However, the retired merchant seaman said the drug was solely for his own personal use and he smoked it to relieve arthritis symptoms. Judge Hale, who also ordered Williams to pay £192 prosecution costs, said: 'This is your final warning. Never be so stupid again.' He also told the pensioner to expect 'regular visits' from the police over the next two years.
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