Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON) Copyright: 2009 The Standard Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/ro9MVsol Website: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676 MARIJUANA PRODUCER AWAITS SENTENCING The lawyer for a woman convicted of trafficking and production of marijuana will spend the next two months jotting down points in favour of a conditional sentence for his client. Meanwhile, Federal prosecutor Darren Anger will summarize the aggravating and mitigating factors in favour of Hoa Vu spending time in custody for growing more medicinal marijuana than she was licensed by Health Canada to produce. Judge Joseph Nadel said in a St. Catharines court Monday that he will use both lawyers' notes to determine sentencing, held over for Vu until Sept. 29. Vu was licensed to grow 25 marijuana plants for medicinal use by a man she was caring for. But she was discovered growing more than 115 plants. Police have not been able to determine the health condition that led to the licence. Vu's lawyer, Jeff Root, argued Vu thought she was allowed to grow 25 producing plants, so she had others on hand to ensure continuous production. The marijuana was also grown to help others, Root said. "She's a small individual trying to assist others who went too far," Root said. But Anger said Vu's "overgrowth" of marijuana was a "breach of trust" that exists between licensed growers and Health Canada. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr