Australia: Parents Growing a Single Marijuana Plant Could Be Jailed for 12 Months

[link to zen-haven.dk]

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Parents could be jailed for 12 months and have their children put in state care for growing just one marijuana plant in Western Australia under arguably the nation’s toughest drug laws.

Amendments to WA’s Misuse of Drugs Act passed on Friday mean people convicted of cultivating a single cannabis plant or processing the drug where a child has suffered harm face a 12-month mandatory prison term.

Those convicted of a second drug offence where they were growing just one plant or processing it – hanging it to dry or rolling a joint – face a mandatory jail term of six months if it is proved they endangered a child’s health by exposing them to the activity.

Examples of where parents could be jailed for 12 months include a child being exposed to fertilisers or pesticides, cutting themselves on gardening equipment, or knocking over an enclosure or pot containing a marijuana plant that subsequently injures them.

The draconian laws are a far cry from just a year ago, when cultivation of up to two cannabis plants for personal use resulted in a $150 fine and drug counselling.

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