A CHRONIC pain sufferer who cultivated more than 63 kilograms of cannabis plants in the garden of his Laanecoorie home has avoided a prison sentence.
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Documents held by the Victorian County Court stated police had discovered the plants under a shade cloth fenced-off area on February 18, 2021, after receiving an anonymous tip off.
A tin inside the house contained 115.9 grams of dried cannabis.
The property owner, Michael John Philp, 55, told the police he had been trying to build up a five-year supply of cannabis for personal use.
He had raised the crop from seeds and had grown 10 mature cannabis plants which were confiscated by police and found to weigh a total of 63.62 kilograms.
Judge Claire Quin said on Friday that she accepted that Philp was using the drugs to self-medicate his health issues and she sentenced him to a community corrections order for 12 months.
Judge Quin said the prosecution accepted there was no evidence the drugs were being sold or trafficked.
"Your offending is at the lower end of the range of what can be a very serious offence," she said.
He said Philp had turned to cannabis after a doctor swapped his medication and his pain spiralled out of control.
"In late 2020 Mr Philp was transitioned from his fentanyl medication - which he had been prescribed to manage chronic pain and upon which he had become dependent - to endone," he said.
"This contributed to a profound decline in his psychological health culminating in a prolonged manic episode... (which) contributed to a reduced capacity to make reasoned decisions."
The court was told he was now on a better medication with fewer side effects.
Judge Quin said Philp had entered an early guilty plea to one charge of cultivating a narcotic plant and had no prior criminal record.
She said she would record a conviction and Philp would be required to undergo mental health treatment as part of his community corrections order.
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