Pubdate: Wed, 24 Sep 2014
Source: Lunenburg Progress Enterprise (CN NS)
Copyright: 2014 Lighthouse Publishing Limited
Contact:  http://www.southshorenow.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4942
Author: Lisa Brown
Page: A2

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE SENT TO JAIL

Cancer survivor had illegal 'wall-to-wall' grow-op

COUNTY - A Chester man who believes marijuana saved his life is now in
jail after police found an illegal "wall-to-wall" grow-op in his basement.

George Gary Evans received the minimum mandatory sentence of nine
months in custody September 16 on charges of producing marijuana and
possessing it for the purpose of trafficking.

"My reasons were not profit-oriented," the 59-year-old told Provincial
Court Judge Paul Scovil. "My reasons were to grow my own medical
marijuana and, yes, I had the hopes to be able to help some other
people with cancer and similar issues ... five people in particular, I
had in mind."

Mr. Evans suffered from an aggressive form of esophageal cancer and
had been using five grams of marijuana a day for discomfort, his
lawyer told the court. The drug helped control his nausea and
disorientation, and also aided his appetite.

"I believe that medical marijuana saved my life initially from this
aggressive form of cancer," Mr. Evans told the judge.

He had tried to obtain authorization to grow his own marijuana, but
was unable to do so.

"I made a terrible judgment call to go ahead and try to grow it
anyways," he said.

Mr. Evans told the judge it was his first successful crop after
researching how to grow marijuana on the Internet.

Police received information about Mr. Evans's activities and searched
his rental home on September 26, 2013. Officers reported they could
smell marijuana from the driveway when they exited their cars.

Inside, they found a significant amount of marijuana and an
"extensive" grow-op, federal prosecutor Josh Bryson told the court.

"That's probably an understatement. The videos show that virtually
every square foot of this place, the one floor and the basement, was
covered with either grow equipment, bags of marijuana, bags of bud,
bags of shake, even the bedroom had a hammock that contained racks and
marijuana," he said.

"Police describe the smell as overwhelming. They don't know how anyone
could live there."

He said police could see where Mr. Evans' son had been sleeping
between the bags of weed on the couch.

Officers seized 943 grams of marijuana bud in a bedroom and a further
1,522 grams of marijuana throughout the house.

They also found 44 mature plants and 315 starter plants.

Mr. Evans was authorized to have 150 grams at any given
time.

Mr. Bryson said the amounts indicate something far beyond personal,
medical use.

"This is about someone who is using cancer to then go out and mass
produce significant quantities of marijuana," the prosecutor said.

"This was wholesale production."

Judge Scovil noted that Mr. Evans was a community volunteer with an
"extremely positive" pre-sentence report and no criminal record.

"He has been an important person in the community, has given greatly
back to the community," the judge said.

On the other had, he added, Mr. Evans possessed "far beyond" the
amount of marijuana he was authorized to have.

"There was a wall-to-wall grow-op in the basement of the accused's
residence," Judge Scovil said.

"What we have here is a situation where people in Mr. Evans' position
tend to fool themselves into believing that medical marijuana is a
panacea to any number of different things."

Judge Scovil told Mr. Evans he put his own safety at risk as a
potential victim of crime by having that amount of marijuana and the
community at risk had the drug made its way to young people.

"This type of activity is one that's extremely concerning," he
said.

Following the mandatory jail sentence, Mr. Evans will be on probation
for nine months. During that time, he must stay clear of drugs beyond
what he is prescribed and authorized to have.

He's banned from having firearms for 10 years and had to submit a DNA
sample for the national criminal data bank.
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