Jailed grower started cannabis at age 7

A boy was introduced to cannabis smoking at the age of seven, Darwin Supreme Court heard.

John Ross Massie, now 23, had been using the drug since.

“He was introduced to cannabis by friends of his parents,” Justice David Angel told the court. “They were not real friends. No real friend would introduce a seven-year-old to cannabis.”

Massie pleaded guilty to cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis.

He potted 54 seedlings at the back of his parents’ home at Berry Springs, 50km south of Darwin, last year.

Massie, of Woodroffe, Palmerston, was on a suspended sentence for going armed in public and assault causing bodily harm.

He had faced a 25-year jail term for the offences. Massie has a two-page criminal history going back to 1999, but this was his first drug offence.

The judge last week gave Massie an 18-month sentence with six months to serve.

“He can count himself lucky,” Justice Angel said.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 09 March 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/