Man Charged with Second Possession of a Prohibited Drug Receives Leniency

Lawyer-in-charge: Lara Menon.

Our client was a 20-year-old man who was found by Police to be in possession of a prohibited drug, cannabis leaf, punishable by a 2-year term of imprisonment or $2,200 fine or both. At the time, our client was in the process of obtaining a prescription allowing him to legally purchase and use cannabis for medicinal purposes, namely the symptoms of ADHD. However, as this process was not yet finalized, our client’s possession of cannabis was illegal. Our client had a previous drug possession charge approximately 18 months prior to this offence.

Lara made submissions to the Court about our client’s prospects of rehabilitation and minimal risk of reoffending as he now had a prescription to purchase the cannabis legally. Lara requested that the Court consider dealing with the matter by way of a fine only.

The Court ultimately agreed and our client was fined $500.