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Australia: Great gran had marijuana in house to help terminally-ill daughter control pain

Amy Dale

Daily Telegraph, Australia

Wednesday 08 Jan 2014

A GREAT grandmother charged with supplying marijuana only had the drug in her home as "pain control" for her terminally ill daughter, a court heard today.

Barbara Patricia Stiff has pleaded guilty to the supply of cannabis and dealing with suspected proceeds of crime.

Waverley Local Court heard 67 grams of the drug and $395 were found during a police search of her Malabar apartment in June last year.

Her barrister William Barber told the court the 79 year old has been left "terribly embarrassed" by the charges, which were laid shortly after the death of her daughter.

The court heard the marijuana was used by Mrs Stiff's daughter Kerry as part of treatment for terminal bowel cancer.

Shortly after her daughter's death Mrs Stiff sold the remaining amount of the drug to a 36-year-old man who came to her unit and had been part of "a group" who used it at the same time as Kerry, the court heard.

A police warrant saw the public housing apartment searched the next day. "She no longer had any use for this cannabis (after her daughter's death)," Mr Barber told the court.

"Its use for self medication, that is the limit of her criminality. It was purely and utterly for pain control ... she was aware it was illegal but she didn't believe her actions were very serious."

He said his client faced being kicked out of her apartment of more than 30 years because of media coverage of her arrest.

Mr Barber wanted the case dealt with under legislation that wouldn't record a conviction against Mrs Stiff provided she abide by a good behaviour bond, but his submission was rejected by Magistrate Robbie Williams.

Police documents allege a small notebook with "names and amounts of money" were found in the apartment and are evidence of a drug ledger.

Mr Barber said the figures represent small loans Mrs Stiff had lent people and that scales in the house were used by her daughter to measure the amounts of he drug she used.

Mrs Stiff was given a four-month suspended jail sentence.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/great-gran-had-marijuana-in-house-to-help-terminallyill-daughter-control-pain/story-fni0cx12-1226797327069

 

 

 

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