Pubdate: Tue, 19 Apr 2005
Source: Edinburgh Evening News (UK)
Copyright: 2005 The Scotsman Publications Ltd
Contact:  http://www.edinburghnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1626
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

MAN WHO GREW CANNABIS TO EASE MUM'S PAIN SENTENCED

A MAN who tried to create a cannabis cream to ease his elderly mother's 
chronic pain was today sentenced to 240 hours community service.

Stephen Renton, 38, grew up to 770 cannabis plants in the loft above two 
bungalows in Newtongrange, Midlothian, occupied by him and his parents.

The court heard Mr Renton had given up his job as an IT consultant where he 
earned more than ukp200 a day, to devote all his time to cultivating the 
drug into treatments for his 67-year-old mother, Sheila.

Mrs Renton has suffered from chronic pain caused by nerve-end damage for 
more than ten years, and her son got the idea of developing a cream made 
from cannabis after sampling some during a trip to Amsterdam.

However, his 'crusade' to perfect a recipe for a pain-relieving lotion 
caused a fire which ruined his and his parents' home, plunged him into debt 
and saw him facing serious criminal charges.

Mr Renton's crop - estimated to be worth ukp770,000 - was discovered by 
firefighters called out to tackle the fire sparked by powerful hydroponic 
lighting equipment in the loft of his home.

At the High Court in Edinburgh, his solicitor, Jim Stephenson, argued that 
the monetary value the Crown had placed on the plants did not take into 
account their viability or the number of plants lost to disease.

He added that Mr Renton was "inexperienced" at growing the drug, and his 
huge crop was not a commercial enterprise. Mr Stephenson told the court: 
"This was an enterprise by him to create a cream to assist his mother."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman