WOMAN GREW TOO MUCH POT

St. Catharines - A rare case involving a woman who produced too much
medicinal marijuana got even stranger Tuesday when she was sentenced
to house arrest -- but chose jail instead.

Judge Joseph Nadel ruled 42-year-old Hoa Vu could serve a 12-month
sentence at home, after siding with defence lawyer Jeffrey Root who
argued the case didn't merit jail time.

But after hearing through a Vietnamese interpreter what conditions
she'd have to follow, Vu opted for 90 days in jail--the sentence
federal prosecutor Darren Anger wanted.

Vu pleaded guilty to production of marijuana in a St. Catharines court
in July, after police discovered she was growing more medicinal
marijuana in her Niagara Falls home than she was licensed by Health
Canada to produce.

Although she was legally allowed to grow 25 plants as a caregiver for
other people, police found 119 plants in various states of maturation.

Root argued Vu was growing the additional plants to ensure continuous
production.

Nadel said there was no evidence she was selling the marijuana
commercially. She was giving this stuff away to sick people," Nadel
said.

She'll serve the 90 days on weekends and forfeit all marijuana-growing
equipment.