Court accepts 'personal use' claim by man charged with importing cannabis seed

A 29-year-old man from Paola who cultivated cannabis has been fined and handed a suspended sentence after a magistrate accepted the man's claim to have only been growing the drug to cut down on his recreational drug-related expenditure.

Keith Falzon had become a person of interest to the police in September 2012, after customs officials discovered ten sachets of cannabis seeds inside a DVD case which was mailed to him.

Police set up a controlled delivery operation in order to arrest the accused in the act of taking possession of the seeds. A police raid on Falzon’s residence had also found 21 sachets of cannabis grass, together with trace amounts of cocaine, heroin and drug paraphernalia.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras was told how the accused had been smoking cannabis since the age of 16. Falzon told the police that he had purchased the cannabis seeds over the internet with the intention of cultivating it himself and save money.

The accused had described how he would grow the plant inside a wardrobe, before drying its leaves and sealing them in small sachets - around 30 per plant - for his eventual consumption.

In finding him guilty of drug importation, the court said that it was satisfied that, despite the large quantity of the illicit substance found at his house, these had been meant for personal consumption.

Falzon was pronounced guilty of simple, rather than aggravated, drug possession.

In handing down punishment, the court noted that the accused had already been handed two conditional discharges and had been placed on probation following convictions for aggravated theft and possession of cannabis and heroin.

Although it appeared that the accused had relapsed into drug abuse since his last meeting with his probation officer, he had also sought assistance to overcome his addiction of his own accord, held the court.

Falzon was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment, suspended for three years, ordered to pay a €1,500 fine and was placed under a three-year probation order.

Police inspector Malcolm Bondin prosecuted.