An Aberdeen man has spoken out on the medical benefits of cannabis after he was fined for growing a plant.
Alexander McLean appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted a charge of production of the class B drug.
Police raided his home Dulnain Road in Aberdeen in November last year and found a growing tent containing a single plant, along with 62.7g of herbal cannabis.
The 48-year-old received a £420 fine over the matter, but outside court spoke about how he used the drug to help with leg and back pain caused by a career of heavy lifting.
Outside court, McLean said: “I can’t get a proper sleep at night so I smoke a joint before my bed at night.
‘I’ll be almost greeting from the pain’
“On my street, there’s crack addicts and they’re making crack and yet they bust me for growing a plant. One f****** plant.
“If I grow my own I ken what’s in it.
“I think you should be allowed to grow a plant for medicinal benefits so you’re not putting money into the hands of dealers from the likes of Liverpool and Birmingham.”
McLean accepted he had broken the law, but argued the law around cannabis use – for medicinal purposes at least, should be changed.
He said: “I can go into a shoppy and buy 10 bottles of whisky, drink that and go outside and be a f****** a***hole and end up killing somebody and not have a clue about it.
“But if I want to go in my house, sit and watch film and smoke a joint I’m a criminal.
“Everywhere else is getting with the programme. Come on, Scotland. It’s just nuts.”
He added: “I bought everything from Amazon, it all comes to your door. How come you can buy all this stuff but yet you’re not allowed to do it? It’s like entrapment.
“In my bedroom I had one tent and one plant hanging up drying and I had 10 coppers through my door.”
Highlighting the extent of the leg and back pain that he suffers daily, McLean said: “I was working as a tarpaulin maker for 15 years. They’re heavy as f***.
“If I go to the shoppy I can’t carry two four-pinters of milk home.
“By the time I get up the road to the bus stop now I’ll be in agony, I’ll be almost greeting from the pain that I get for it.”
He was using medicinal cannabis as ‘informal’ yet ‘not legal’ pain relief
During the court hearing, fiscal depute Andrew McMann said: “Officers executed a search warrant at the address on November 16.
“On entering the bedroom, they found a growing tent, lights, fans and chemicals along with one plant, all indicative of the production of cannabis.”
He told the court the 62.7g of herbal cannabis also found had a maximum potential street value of £1,355.
Defence agent John McLeod said: “He is clearly disabled. That came about partially as a consequence of his former employment lifting heavy tarpaulin.
“He was using cannabis as an informal, albeit as yet not legal method of pain relief.”
Sheriff Joseph Platt fined McLean £420.
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