Taking ganja landed one woman in hospital and resulted in a criminal conviction for the man who supplied her with the drug.
Magistrate Valdis Foldats told a court Monday that social supply of ganja is still supply, as he recorded a conviction of supplying the drug against Omar St. Aubyn Greaves, who previously had a clean record.
“The hazards of social supply are manifest here. It’s always a danger,” he said, after hearing that a woman to whom Greaves had give the ganja ended up in the hospital.
Details were outlined by Crown Counsel Candia James and defense attorney John Furniss.
Trial had been scheduled for St. Aubyn Greaves and the woman, both of whom had been charged with possession and consumption of ganja; Greaves was further charged with supplying. He had previously pleaded not guilty, but when the charge was put to him again, he replied, “Guilty with explanation.”
The woman also pleaded not guilty initially, but then told the court, “It was a stupid incident. I put it in my mouth.” The “it” was a ganja spliff, referred to as a cigar. She denied inhaling and told the court she did not smoke ganja.
Mr. Furniss presented Greaves’s account of the incident, which occurred in November 2012. He said Greaves and the woman were parked in his car, waiting for his wife to get off work. “He had the spliff, she asked and he handed it to her and she took a couple of draws. She then behaved in a strange fashion and attention was drawn to them; otherwise, they would have just gone on their way.”
Mr. Furniss said the woman was taken to hospital by other parties. Greaves followed because he was concerned.
He emphasized that the charges against Greaves were based on his own admissions.
The magistrate said giving ganja to someone who may not have had exposure to drugs could result in a bad reaction. Introducing someone to drugs could result in that person continuing to use and continuing to offend, he said.
Mr. Furniss noted that Greaves had said in his statement to police that the woman wasn’t a stranger to ganja.
Although Greaves, 40, was an otherwise responsible and productive citizen, this offense was too serious for a conviction not to be recorded, the magistrate determined. He ordered Greaves to do 40 hours of community service.
The woman then said she would plead guilty to consumption of ganja. Ms. James agreed to withdraw the charge of possession.
The magistrate offered this defendant the same option he offers to other first offenders – attend court monthly and be tested until three “clean” tests in a row are achieved, and thereafter be on probation for a year subject to random tests. Compliance results in no conviction being recorded. [For that reason, the Cayman Compass does not identify such defendants.]
The woman indicated she had no problem with such an arrangement and she agreed to be tested that day.
Related Videos
