Man Grew Cannabis As It Was Too Expensive To Buy

[Jim Finnel]

A FORMER Brynaman heroin addict grew drugs because he could not afford to buy them, a court has been told.

Cerith Thomas, of 71 Arfryn Estate, admitted he was growing four cannabis plants at his home when police raided the property on October 12.

Ammanford magistrates were told how officers had been at the estate on a separate incident when they visited Thomas’ property.

The officers immediately noted a strong smell of cannabis coming from inside.

A search of the property uncovered four mature cannabis plants hidden in the airing cupboard along with various leaves and buds being dried.

Ammanford magistrates were told that Thomas had been arrested on similar charges in 2005.

Andrew Isaacs, defending, told the court that Thomas used cannabis in a bid to tackle his heroin problems.

"Rather than go back on heroin, he uses cannabis to wean himself off drugs slowly but surely," he said.

Mr Isaacs claimed that Thomas was growing the plants because he could not afford to buy the cannabis ready to smoke.

"He leads a rather sad existence," said Mr Isaacs.

Magistrates find Thomas £150.

He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and a further £15 legal surcharge.


NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: southwalesguardian.co.uk
Copyright: 2010 Newsquest Media Group
Contact: Contact Us | Homepage - South Wales Guardian
Website: Man grew cannabis as it was too expensive to buy (From South Wales Guardian)

 

[stonedrock]

Everytime I read shit like this it makes me want to puke...... damn we live in a fucked up world.

 

[sicntired]

I am afraid as a long time(how come they were allowed to use the word heroin)addict I seriously doubt that anyone could use cannabis to wean themselves off of ******.I do know there is a program here that uses cannabis in capsules to wean people off methadone and I know of one person that completed the program successfully.I am on cesamet,which is a big pharma THC concoction.It's very potent and if I use it to sleep I stay asleep for 24 hours.Not the best way to spend a life.I prefer the natural drug and enjoy smoking.I am still trying to get on the Canadian system but although the numbers have doubled in the last year or so there are still only about 3000 out of a country of 34 million.Plus there is a bill,S-10 that will make the growing of a single pot plant a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum 6 months in jail and I have done more than my share of jail time thank you very much.This guy was lucky he didn't live in the USofA.He'd be in jail till his age reached the number of his address.

 

[Jim Finnel]

...how come they were allowed to use the word heroin.....

its about context

 

[Jim Finnel]

I am afraid as a long time addict I seriously doubt that anyone could use cannabis to wean themselves off of ******......

The surprising effect of cannabis on morphine dependence

In order to study psychiatric disorders, neurobiologists use animal models, especially maternal deprivation models. Depriving rats of their mothers for several hours a day after their birth leads to a lack of care and to early stress. The lack of care, which takes place during a period of intense neuronal development, is liable to cause lasting brain dysfunction. Valérie Daugé's team at the Laboratory for Physiopathology of Diseases of the Central Nervous System (UPMC / CNRS / Inserm) analyzed the effects of maternal deprivation combined with injections of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main active principle in cannabis, on behavior with regard to opiates.

Previously, Daugé and her colleagues had shown that rats deprived of their mothers at birth become hypersensitive to the rewarding effect of morphine and ****** (substances belonging to the opiate family), and rapidly become dependent. In addition, there is a correlation between such behavioral disturbances linked to dependence, and hypoactivity of the enkephalinergic system, the endogenous opioid system.

To these rats, placed under stress from birth, the researchers intermittently administered increasingly high doses of THC (5 or 10 mg/kg) during the period corresponding to their adolescence (between 35 and 48 days after birth). By measuring their consumption of morphine in adulthood, they observed that, unlike results previously obtained, the rats no longer developed typical morphine-dependent behavior. Moreover, biochemical and molecular biological data corroborate these findings. In the striatum, a region of the brain involved in drug dependence, the production of endogenous enkephalins was restored under THC, whereas it diminished in rats stressed from birth which had not received THC.

Such animal models are validated for understanding the neurobiological and behavioral effects of postnatal conditions in humans. In this context, the findings point to the development of new treatments that could relieve withdrawal effects and suppress drug dependence.

The enkephalinergic system produces endogenous enkephalins, which are neurotransmitters that bind to the same receptors as opiates and inhibit pain messages to the brain.

Full bibliographic information: Adolescent Exposure to Chronic Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Blocks Opiate Dependence in Maternally Deprived Rats - Lydie J. Morel, Bruno Giros and Valérie Daugé. Neuropsychopharmacology 24 June 2009, PMID: 19553915.

Source: The surprising effect of cannabis on morphine dependence