Cultivator of personal cannabis plant gets community service [1]
Thursday, September 9, 2021 - 18:11
Soane Papaa (28) who pleaded guilty to cultivating one cannabis plant at Lapaha was ordered to carry out 40-hours of community service.
Hon. Mr Justice Cooper sentenced him on September 7 at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court.
This was after, he pleaded guilty to two counts of cultivation of the single cannabis plant, which weighed some 47.17 grams and possession of utensils, a single empty packet.
The court heard that on April 19, this year at around 6:00pm the police, acting on information, raided the defendant's home in Lapaha where they found the single plant.
The accused was taken into custody and interviewed. He admitted the offence.
The judge said in considering sentence, he followed the guidance in the New Zealand Case of R v Terewi, which had repeatedly been considered and approved of as providing the framework for sentencing bands in cases concerning cannabis cultivation in these courts. These bands included, category 1, which consists of the growing of a small number of cannabis plants for personal use by the offender without any sale to another party occurring or being intended.
“Offending in this category is almost invariably dealt with by a fine or other non-custodial sentence,” he said.
"Plainly this case falls into category 1 offending, there being a single plant and no evidence of any intention to supply."
In addition, there is is no other metric provided other than quantity, which in turn is not qualified to distinguish between fresh cannabis plants, dried or any particular parts of them, said the judge.
The accused was then ordered to complete 40-hours community service and a drugs awareness course at the direction of probation. The cannabis was forfeited to be destroyed.