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The lawyer for South Australian cannabis oil distributor Jenny Hallam has urged a court not to convict or jail her for drug offences because she needs to travel overseas as part of her new job.
Key points:
- Jenny Hallam pleaded guilty to possessing and manufacturing a controlled drug
- Her lawyer told an Adelaide court she wants to take up a job at a cannabis farm
- A prosecutor said it was unclear if her products had ended up in the hands of recreational users
Adelaide's District Court was today told Hallam, 47, is planning to take up employment at a privately-owned cannabis farm in northern New South Wales, known as the Australian Cannabis University.
The court heard its founder Dolph Cooke, who holds a licence to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes, wants to hire Hallam as an employee for her expertise in oil production.
She will be sentenced in November for the possession and manufacture of a controlled drug after giving medicinal cannabis oil to people living with a terminal illness during a two-year period.
Hallam pleaded guilty to the charges in February.
Defence lawyer Greg Barns said there was no evidence to suggest any of the recipients of Hallam's cannabis oil were harmed.
He said recipients had seen improvements in their health.
"There's been a demonstrable improvement in their lives," he said.
"The harm is hard to work out.
"We take the point that a regulatory regime for anything that is ingested is important … but there's no victims."
He urged the court not to impose a conviction or prison sentence, but place his client on a good-behaviour bond so she could travel to the United States as part of her new job.
Hallam 'not qualified' to make products, prosecutor says
The court was told Hallam had been making the oil at a loss and was not commercially motivated.
Prosecutor Nick Wong told the court that Hallam was a "self-described cannabis oil distributor" but had no prior convictions.
He said people who "claimed to be sick" would contact Hallam through Facebook and other social media accounts.
Judge Rauf Soulio asked Mr Wong if there was any evidence to suggest that any recreational cannabis users had contacted Hallam and been provided with oil.
He said it was unclear.
"The Director of Public Prosecutions accepts that the defendant was not making any profit … but the fact remains, she was not qualified to make the products," he said.
He said laws changed in 2016 to allow medical practitioners to determine if a patient was suitable to receive medicinal cannabis.
According to its website, the Australian Cannabis University is a "legal low-THC cannabis farm" and is headed by a so-called "Dean of Green".
Prior to today's hearing, Hallam took to social media to insist she was "not a criminal".
Topics: drug-offences, crime, law-crime-and-justice, cannabis, drug-use, adelaide-5000, sa, australia