MULLAWAY'S Medical Cannabis proprietor Tony Bower has successfully appealed against a 12-month jail sentence for breaching a good behaviour bond by cultivating cannabis plants.
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The vocal advocate for the legislation of medicinal cannabis was sentenced in August to 12 months jail for the cultivation of a commercial quantity of cannabis at his property near Crescent Head.
On Wednesday, Port Macquarie District Court Judge Paul Conlon issued Mr Bower new penalties including a six-month good behaviour bond, but none of them was imprisonment.
Mr Bower told The Macleay Argus he was relieved but he would keep working towards the legalisation of medicinal cannabis.
“The judge said he understood how hard it had been on me due to the publicity and how hard it was for me to refuse people in need,” Mr Bower said.
“He understood I wasn’t making any money and I wasn’t doing it for personal gain.”
Mr Bower distributes medicinal cannabis to people with chronic health problems and has developed a way of extracting the psychoactive substance Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from the plant and putting it into tinctures that can be taken orally.
The Australian Medical Association has backed clinical trials into pain relief and the federal government is moving forward with new legislation to make the drug available to patients.
Premier Mike Baird and Deputy Premier and Member for Oxley Andrew Stoner have also indicated provisional support for legalising the drug for medicinal purposes.
However, Mr Bower believes the NSW government is simply leading people around in circles.
“People, including children, are sick and suffering and the NSW government is just running around in circles saying they are going to do something, but nothing is happening,” Mr Bowers said.
“They have already had an enquiry where nothing was achieved and now they want to have another one.
"It’s time to start moving forward and think about the people that medicinal cannabis can help.”
Mr Bowers said in moving forward he expects big things to happen over the coming months but first the product (medicinal cannabis) needs to be tested.
“I’ll just move forward regardless of what the states are doing,” Mr Bowers said.
“We’ll be moving towards trials in the next couple of months and that is what we are working towards, it’s just a matter of getting the right people and then we can move forward.”
