Pubdate: Thu, 28 Sep 2006
Source: Townsville Bulletin, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2006 The North Queensland Newspaper Company Pty Ltd
Contact:  http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3758

DOCTOR LASHES OUT AFTER DRUGS CONVICTION

ALREADY facing possible charges of contempt of court, a  Sydney 
doctor who grew almost 50,000 cannabis plants  has verbally attacked 
police, the courts and his  conviction.

Dr Andrew John Katelaris was convicted on March 8 this  year of one 
count of cultivating not less than a large  commercial quantity of cannabis.

He was given a three-year good behaviour bond by Judge  Ralph 
Coolahan when he appeared in the NSW District  Court in Newcastle today.

But Judge Coolahan said he was referring another  matter, in which 
Katelaris accused a jury of being  ignorant and referred to them as 
"sheep", for  consideration of charges of contempt.

Outside court following his conviction, and despite  pleas from both 
his barrister and sister not to speak  to the media, Katelaris said 
the courts and police had  "behaved very poorly".

As he spoke, he held a sign with the name of a  pro-cannabis website.

When asked what he thought of his good behaviour bond,  Katelaris 
said: "You don't expect this sort of  treatment".

"I think I was behaving in the last three years very  well," Katelaris said.

"It has been the courts and the police that have  behaved very 
poorly. It's a foolish decision by a  foolish process."

Katelaris grew the cannabis plants on his property at  Salisbury, 
near Dungog in the NSW Hunter Valley.

He bought the property in early 2004 and was found to  have grown the 
commercial-sized crop between December  2004 and January 2005. At no 
time did he deny growing  the crop nor did he try to conceal it.

Laboratory tests revealed the plants were of 
low  tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. THC is the  ingredient that 
makes cannabis potent as a drug.

The court accepted the cannabis had no value as a drug.

After a six-day trial in March, Katelaris was found  guilty by a jury 
of growing the crop without a licence.

When the jury handed down its decision, Katelaris told  them: 
"Regrettably the next generation will suffer from  your ignorance".

He later described the jury to the media as sheep.

Judge Coolahan, during sentencing today, brought up the  incident and 
said he would refer the matter to the  Registrar of the NSW Court of 
Appeal for consideration  of charges against Katelaris for contempt.

Katelaris told reporters today he had spent a great  deal of time 
developing an industrial form of hemp to  benefit the state of NSW.

"If anyone out there in TV land is still alive, have a  look at the 
website. The war against industrial hemp is  a war against the planet."

He said that as long as the "temperature of this  atmosphere is 
increasing and the oceans are rising" his  work in promoting 
industrial hemp would not end.

At one stage Katelaris' sister tried to drag him away  from the 
media, saying her brother was determined to  "work within the law in 
the future".

During the trial Katelaris had told the court the crop  was for 
scientific research, and that the study of  industrial hemp could 
solve environmental problems.

In December 2005, the NSW Medical Tribunal revoked  Katelaris' 
licence to practice as a medical  practitioner in NSW for three years.

The tribunal suspended him over the self-administration  of cannabis 
and supplying it to some patients. 
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MAP posted-by: Elaine