MARIJUANA GROWER CLAIMS HELPING THE SICK: SENTENCE HEARING

MIRAMICHI - A judge is set to decide whether a middle-aged business
woman will get jail time for what she called "a compassionate grow
op" producing marijuana for the ill.

Eva Marie Duplessie, 45, a petit woman who worked as tech specialist
for a software company in Toronto and recently moved to a cottage in
Baie du Vin, pled guilty to producing and trafficking marijuana out
of her new home, but the Crown and defense disagreed on a suitable
sentence during a hearing on Tuesday.

Crown prosecutor Jack Walsh argued a grow op is a grow op and
Duplessie should have known better than to start an operation amidst
the media attention of the ongoing Operation Jackpot case in
Miramichi. He recommended a jail term from one to two years.

But defense lawyer Geri Mahoney said this was an operation unlike
anything Miramichi was used to seeing and asked for a conditional
sentence.

She said her client wanted to apply for a medical license that would
allow her to both smoke and grow marijuana, but was unable to even
find a doctor in New Brunswick to begin the process.

Oullette's decision will be rendered on Jan. 5

During the investigation in 2007 officers uncovered 213 plants
growing in her home along with highly elaborate equipment including
lighting and timers.

At the hearing Cpl. Jody Whyte took the stand for the Crown as an
expert witness in the field of pricing packaging, distribution,
production and useage of cannabis.

He estimated they seized $60,000 worth (24 pounds) of marijuana from
her at that time, based on a street value of $2,500 per pound.

The most unusual thing he noted about the organically grown plants
was the buds were separated into jars labelled with different strain
names.

"There were 12 mason jars -- one of them said White
Rhino."

Others read Armegeddon, Kush and AK47.

But when Duplessie herself took the stand she told the court she
wasn't selling it for nearly that much money, because she was not in
it to make money.

"I thought I could help others," she said. "I gave it to two of my
friends -- one person with AIDS and another with ALS."

She told the court, however, she did not have such an ailment, but
took it because she suffered from depression and it helped her relax.

" I couldn't find a doctor, even for the basics," she said about why
she failed to get a medical license to grow the marijuana. "I did not
want to interact with criminals, so I thought it would be safer to
grow it myself."

Furthermore, she maintained she was in it for the quality of the bud
and not the quantity -- she was actually losing money on the endeavour.

"I had a good job. I didn't need the money..." said Duplessie, though
she is now in jeopardy of losing her job if she goes to jail.

"Different strains are better for certain ailments than others... You
can't find those on the streets for sale because they don't make any
money."

But in the end, when asked what she'd learned from the experience,
she did express remorse, saying, "I learned not to confuse
intelligence with being smart, because what I did was really stupid."

On cross examination, the Crown asked if she ever read the newspaper
and the media coverage surrounding the highly public take down of
Operation Jackpot, where dozens where dozens of people worked
together in a network spanning Miramichi and the rest of the province.

"I heard about Operation Jackpot, yes," Duplessie said.

"You would have had to have known we have a problem in our community
with marijuana grow operations," said Walsh. "At the time you were
running this you had full knowledge this was a serious matter."

Duplessie answered, saying she was used to the big city where she was
used to filtering out stories like these. And she added those
convicted in Operation Jackpot weren't picky who they sold to.

Walsh questioned how successful she was in actually selling her
product to those who needed it medically.

She revealed in Toronto she bought her personal stash from a
"compassion club" -- cafes who supply the drug to the ill.

However, in New Brunswick she knew no one and turned to strangers on
a website promoting the legalization of the drug to assist her with
everything from how to grow the plant, to purchasing equipment, to
selling the pot.

"I sold [eight pounds for $16,000] to a man whose wife was a minister
with cancer. She died recently," she said. "He told me he would get
it to the people who needed it."

"So you had these Florence Nightingale reasons to help others," he
said. "...You believed niavely he wouldn't use it himself?"

While she trusted him she did admit she had a difficult time with
another person she met online who proved untrustworthy.

Dupplessie hired a man from Nova Scotia, someone she met on the same
website, who is in the business of setting up growing operations.
Instead of paying him for his labour she agreed to give him half of
her first batch.

"When he came back he took all of it. And he threatened me so I
wouldn't tell anyone. It was compensation for not joining his
group...he threatened me and it opened my eyes."

"This is not a case which reflects a good attitude toward the law,"
said Walsh in his summations. "She said she wanted to avoid the
criminal element. Avoid criminality? She was immersed in
criminality."

Mahoney sought a conditional sentence, saying Duplessie's actions
were a far cry from those convicted in the highly organized Operation
Jackpot file.

At learning she would not hear her fate until next month, Duplessie
began sobbing.

"My client stayed in a motel last night," said Mahoney. "She booked a
plane ticket to return home to Toronto tomorrow."

"Only if..." Duplessie trailed off.