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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Fine for grower of dope plants
The News Shopper Online Tuesday 14 Aug 2001 AN UNEMPLOYED man who grew 181 cannabis plants in his parents' loft escaped jail because he has a social phobia. When police raided David Smee's parents' Dartford home, they found five large 'mother' plants surrounded by 176 seedlings being cultivated in a hydroponic factory. He pleaded guilty at Dartford Magistrates' Court to cultivating the class B drug but said it was for personal use. But magistrates kept him out of prison with a four-month suspended sentence after hearing about his psychological problems. Magistrate Frances Swan said: 'This is a very serious offence but we have decided to suspend the sentence because of your current state of health.' The court heard Smee, aged 30, had bought the growing unit from a friend for £500 after deciding he could not guarantee the quality of the drugs he was buying from dealers. Defending, Amber Marks said he took cannabis to relieve headaches brought on by an operation to remove an eye tumour in 1991. She added: 'There is a substantial degree of public support for people who smoke cannabis on medical grounds.' 'He would be a particularly vulnerable person to go to prison. He rarely leaves the house and never socialises except with his family.' 'There is strong medical evidence to support the claim he has a social phobia and he receives incapacity benefit because of it.' She told magistrates the cultivation was an experiment which went wrong and he did not know how much the crop would yield. Smee had set up the factory in the loft in the three-bedroomed house in Lansbury Crescent because his own one-bedroomed flat in Browning Road, Dartford, was too small. He said his parents did not know they were there because they were out a lot of the time. Smee also admitted possessing 135gms of cannabis resin and 61gms of herbal cannabis, found in the raid on January 12, and was fined £100 with £85 costs.
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