First-time offender given fine for marijuana grow
He had a medical marijuana licence but found Health Canada’s pot prices were simply too high once he lost his job and decided to grow his own.
When Niagara Regional Police checked Mark Kowal’s rural Port Robinson property, they discovered 21 marijuana plants, each six to eight feet tall, in his backyard.
In an Ontario Court of Justice in Welland on Wednesday, the first-time offender pleaded guilty to production of a controlled substance.
Mathew Fischer, who also lived on the Young Road property, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana.
Niagara Regional Police executed a warrant at the residence Sept. 27, 2017 and seized the plants as well as a quantity of dried marijuana.
Defence lawyer Mark Evans said Kowal, 58, has several medical conditions for which he was prescribed opiates.
“That’s the pathway to addiction for a lot of people,” he told Judge Tory Colvin.
His client became hooked to the powerful drugs but was able to beat his addiction and later turned to marijuana for pain relief.
He applied for and was granted a medical marijuana licence.
“It was essentially a self-help remedy for him,” Evans said.
Evans said the defendant ordered the marijuana from Health Canada at a cost of between $600 and $700 a month.
When his employment ended, court heard, he could no longer afford the marijuana and began to grow his own.
The judge imposed a $100 fine against Kowal and placed him on probation for 12 months. Fischer received a conditional discharge and was placed on probation for one year. Court heard Fischer was so co-operative with police that he offered them a beer after they raided his residence.