Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jul 2006
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2006 The StarPhoenix
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Betty Ann Adam
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

JUDGE SENDS MESSAGE WITH GROW-OP SENTENCE

Mark John Evanishen's claim that he grew 124 marijuana plants in a 
former rural schoolhouse to meet his medical need to smoke one ounce 
per day was "far-fetched and beyond belief," a provincial court judge 
found Thursday.

Judge Robert Jackson found Evanishen, 35, guilty of producing 
cannabis marijuana and cannabis resin and possession of marijuana for 
the purpose of trafficking.

Jackson handed Evanishen a sentence of two years less one day in 
jail, saying he imposed a term at the longer end of the possible 
range to address the need for general deterrence.

The defence, which included expert opinion evidence from a man who 
has twice been convicted of growing cannabis in similar operations, 
did not raise a reasonable doubt about Evanishen's commercial intent, 
Jackson said.

The charges were laid after a Feb. 23, 2005, police raid at the 
former school near Mayfair, 110 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

Evanishen was living in one of the classrooms and tending to a 
"multi-stage growing scheme utilizing specialized equipment and 
methodology to effect a continuous cropping operation," Jackson found.

Jason Hiltz, the defence expert, said the setup was "low end." It 
lacked fans, reflective, light-enhancing material and adequate 
temperature and humidity controls, he said. He thought the operation 
would produce a maximum yield of one and a half ounces per plant.

The Crown's expert, RCMP Cpl. Christopher Thomas, testified the 
plants were more likely to produce a minimum of three ounces each. He 
said the plants would produce enough marijuana to provide a heavy 
user -- one who smoked one gram per day -- with a supply to last 22.8 
years. The harvested plant has a shelf life of about six months, 
after which it loses half its potency, Thomas had testified.

Evanishen said he smoked an ounce of pot per day, about 28 times as 
much as Thomas considered heavy use, to treat ailments, such as 
epilepsy, back problems and migraines, resulting from five auto crashes.

If it took Evanishen five minutes each to roll and smoke a joint, he 
would spend about six hours per day rolling and smoking joints, Jackson found.

Crown prosecutor, Wade McBride, has said that if Evanishen needed the 
marijuana for medical purposes, he should have applied for a medical exemption.

Jackson said Hiltz's evidence didn't prove there was no commercial 
operation. The judge also noted that the defence evidence showed 
there were conventional medical treatments for the ailments and no 
evidence any doctor recommended Evanishen use marijuana.

Although police did not find Baggies, scoresheets, cash or 
cellphones, as are often associated with trafficking, they also did 
not find any cigarette papers, even though Evanishen claimed to smoke 
40 to 50 joints per day, Jackson found.

Defence lawyer Mark Vanstone asked for a sentence of time served, 
saying Evanishen's head injuries may have affected his judgement.

Jackson said such clandestine grow operations continue to be a 
problem across Canada, where criminal convictions for the offence 
continue at a steady rate.

"The public has to know these grow operations won't be countenanced," 
Jackson said.

Evanishen will receive double credit for 10 months on remand, which 
leaves him with four months left to serve. The two years less one day 
sentence was attached to the trafficking conviction, while producing 
marijuana attracted a 12-month concurrent term and producing resin 
garnered a 90-day concurrent term.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited or restricted 
firearm related to a double-barrel, sawed-off shotgun police found in 
the schoolhouse, three counts of possessing marijuana on two other 
occasions and breaching an undertaking to the court. Sentences for 
those offences are to be served concurrently.

Evanishen will be prohibited from owning a firearm for 10 years after 
he gets out of jail and all of the grow operation-related property is 
forfeited to the Crown.

The owner of the school, David Holmes, also will be served notice 
that the property is to be forfeited as well, Jackson said.

Evanishen had said Holmes, who is his uncle, did not know Evanishen 
was growing the marijuana but thought he was simply living there and 
taking care of the building.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman