Sharing drugs with friends is as unlawful as dealing, a Judge told a man charged before Galway District Court with having cannabis herb for sale or supply.
However, his solicitor, John Martin, pleaded before Judge Valerie Corcoran that the value of the cannabis found by Gardaí was “only €304,” and the digital scales and notebook with a list of names discovered in the search was just to facilitate sharing the cannabis with friends.
Mr Martin said his client was pleading guilty. He was 28 and this was his first offence and he asked that he be given a chance by the court.
His client had been in and out of work for a time but now intended to do a pet-grooming course.
He had been self-medicating with cannabis as a result of his anxiety and was “sorting out a few friends” he pleaded, adding that this was not large scale. The defence said his client had “walked himself into it” in his statement to Gardaí.
However, the Judge insisted that this was not a possession charge but one of sale or supply and she had to take this seriously. “It was only €304,” Mr Martin countered.
Judge Corcoran said she’d adjourn the case for 12 months and if a Garda behavioural report was favourable at that time, she would strike the charge out.
She warned the defendant that she was only doing this because he was 28 and had no previous convictions but if he came to Garda attention within the 12-month period specified, she would impose a sale and supply conviction and a fine of €750.
