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POTHEAD GRANDMOTHER SPARED JAIL

LONDON ( Reuters ) - A 66-year-old British grandmother with a taste for marijuana casserole was spared jail Friday despite admitting she had shared cannabis-laced cookies with fellow pensioners.

Patricia Tabram from East Lea in the northern tip of England, who said she uses cannabis to alleviate pains in her neck and back, pleaded guilty to possession of the drug with intent to supply.

But Judge David Hodson said he would not make a "martyr" of her when she returned to Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing.  Instead, she received a six-month suspended prison sentence.

The white-haired, bespectacled granny was unrepentant, and said she would keep cooking with pot.

"I had it this morning in my scrambled eggs and I'll have it again for lunch.  I'm not giving it up," she told Channel 4 news.

Tabram has become a symbol for Britain's legalize marijuana campaign.  On her Web Site, www.grandma-eats-cannabis.com, she promises soon to provide free recipes, as well as tea towels and mugs for sale.

Last year, Britain downgraded cannabis from the same class as cocaine and ecstasy to a lower class of illegal drug, which means police are not expected to arrest people for possessing small amounts but can jail them for supplying it to others.

Police said they raided Tabram's home after a tip-off in May last year and found 31 cannabis plants along with hydroponic cultivation equipment.  In a later raid they found 47 bags of "skunk," a particularly strong form of the drug.

The set-up at Tabram's home "bore all the hallmarks of any sophisticated drug dealer," police said in a statement.