CANNABIS DOCTOR ESCAPES PRISON

A Sydney doctor who grew 49,519 cannabis plants will not serve a
custodial sentence, a Newcastle court has ruled.

Dr Andrew John Katelaris was convicted on March 8 this year of one
count of cultivating not less than a large commercial quantity of cannabis.

He grew the plants on his property at Salisbury, near Dungog in the
NSW Hunter Valley.

The NSW District Court in Newcastle was told tests showed the crop had
a low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, making it of no value as a
drug.

During sentencing submissions today, the court was told Dr Katelaris'
licence as a medical practitioner in NSW had been revoked for three
years.

The NSW Medical Tribunal banned Dr Katelaris over the
self-administration of cannabis and for supplying it to some patients.

Judge Ralph Coolahan will hand down a sentence on September 12, but he
told the court Dr Katelaris would not be imprisoned.