MARIJUANA PRODUCER AWAITS SENTENCING

The lawyer for a woman convicted of trafficking and production of
marijuana will spend the next two months jotting down points in favour
of a conditional sentence for his client.

Meanwhile, Federal prosecutor Darren Anger will summarize the
aggravating and mitigating factors in favour of Hoa Vu spending time
in custody for growing more medicinal marijuana than she was licensed
by Health Canada to produce.

Judge Joseph Nadel said in a St. Catharines court Monday that he will
use both lawyers' notes to determine sentencing, held over for Vu
until Sept. 29.

Vu was licensed to grow 25 marijuana plants for medicinal use by a man
she was caring for. But she was discovered growing more than 115 plants.

Police have not been able to determine the health condition that led
to the licence.

Vu's lawyer, Jeff Root, argued Vu thought she was allowed to grow 25
producing plants, so she had others on hand to ensure continuous production.

The marijuana was also grown to help others, Root said.

"She's a small individual trying to assist others who went too far,"
Root said.

But Anger said Vu's "overgrowth" of marijuana was a "breach of trust"
that exists between licensed growers and Health Canada.