Medical use does not apply

Unemployed labourer Adam Lloyd Jones said he smoked cannabis to dull the pain from a bike injury and because he “had an aversion to taking pills”.

At Armidale Local Court on Monday, Jones pleaded guilty to possessing 30 grams of a prohibited drug.

The 32-year-old was driving back to Guyra from Dorrigo on April 11, where he had bought just over 30 grams of cannabis.

Police stopped his vehicle on a speeding matter on the Guyra Rd. 

After being stopped Mr Jones got out of his car and appeared to police to be visibly nervous, making them suspicious. 

They searched his vehicle to find the cannabis in the glove box.

Lloyd Jones’ solicitor Guy Newby said his client had reportedly suffered a bike accident a number of years ago that split his kneecap.

He had an aversion to taking pills for his pain and that the amount police found him with would have lasted Lloyd Jones 12 months. 

But Magistrate Karen Stafford said using cannabis for medicinal purposes was not a defence against possession and fined Jones $600.

Mr Newby said outside court many magistrates would take the use of cannabis for medicinal use under consideration for sentencing. 

“Most magistrates will take it on board politely with good grace but it really doesn’t cut much mustard,” he said.

The case comes amid a campaign led by The Northern Daily Leader to promote the decriminalisation of cannabis for terminally ill cancer patients.