Self-medication Cannabis user had €1,400 of drug ‘for severe back pain’

Garda Sergeant Gail Smith said gardai were on patrol at D’Olier Street at 6.15pm on August 20 last year when they got a smell of cannabis from the accused who was at a bus stop.

Fionn Healy with an address at The Anchorage, Bath Street, Wicklow Town pleaded guilty to possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply.

Andrew Phelan

February 20 2021 01:10 PM

A MAN caught with €1,400 worth of cannabis on him at a city centre bus stop had bought it to medicate himself for severe back pain, a court heard.

Fionn Healy (34) admitted a supply charge but his defence said he was pressing oil from the drug to use for pain relief.

Judge Alan Mitchell adjourned the case at Dublin District Court for a probation report.

Healy, with an address at The Anchorage, Bath Street, Wicklow Town pleaded guilty to possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply.

Garda Sergeant Gail Smith said gardai were on patrol at D’Olier Street at 6.15pm on August 20 last year when they got a smell of cannabis from the accused who was at a bus stop.

He was searched and found in possession of €1,400 worth of cannabis. Healy told gardai it was for his personal use and he would sometimes give it to his friends.

He had no prior convictions.

On the day, Healy had gone “into town with friends to buy cannabis.” The accused, a “well-educated man” had gone to Canada to work as a plumber on building sites before developing severe back pain, his lawyer said.

It got too bad and he could no longer work and became unemployed. He bought cannabis and “presses it to get oil out of it,” which he used for pain relief, the court heard.

Judge Mitchell asked whether the accused would have been better off getting “the legal portion of it” form a health food shop. He said he could not condone people buying illegal drugs, and adjourned the case to a date in April.