CROP OF DOPE 'TO HELP MY KIDS'

A father busted for growing cannabis said he did it because he feared
his children would be reeled back into hard-drug use by shady dealers.

Self-employed Featherston man Mark Ingrey begins four months under
curfew on community detention this week, after admitting a charge of
cultivating cannabis.

Ingrey, 46, who was sentenced in Masterton District Court, said he was
prepared to go to jail for the sake of his children.

"In hindsight, growing cannabis to support my kids use was not
something I should have done and I was well aware of the risks, but,
as a parent you do what you can for your kids. It is that thing called
unconditional love."

Ingrey had hardly had any run-ins with the law and lived a fairly
hardworking life till it all unravelled on March 11, when police
searched his Featherston home and found a sophisticated cannabis
growing operation, his lawyer, Peter Stevens, said.

Police found 59 cannabis plants in a purposely built shed at the back
of his garage.

Ingrey, who is not a drug user, said he was not a commercial dealer.
He was growing in the hope neither of his children, both in their 20s
and long-time drug users, had further contact with dealers.

Both are on a methadone programme to tackle their addictions.

Speaking after the hearing, Ingrey told The Dominion Post: "My fear was
that these dealers, and the gangs and others my kids once ran with would
hook them back into morphine because that's how these people make a buck
out of users. Cannabis is a drug but it is a soft option to help them
through.

"As a parent it breaks your heart to see the mess they can get
themselves into. I was trying to protect them.

"I am very close to my kids. They realise the fact is that I could
have gone to jail by trying to help them. It certainly made them
reflect on the impact of their actions on the people nearest and
dearest to them."