Man grew cannabis in his Louth home to relieve deteriorating MS condition

By Francis Carroll, The Drogheda Independent

A 42-year-old man grew cannabis at home in order to extract oil from the plants to self-medicate his multiple sclerosis condition, a circuit court sentence hearing has been told.

Przemyslaw Brenda, Rockfield Court, Hoey’s Lane, Dundalk, pleaded guilty to a cultivation charge after gardaí found a tent in the corner of a room containing mature cannabis plants.

Also located were bags of the drug and while the overall value was given as €150,000, a garda involved in the investigation said that it was difficult to evaluate the haul. A lot of the drugs were of poor quality and some saturated which would have increased the weight.

An analysis carried out for the defence put its worth at €600.

It was stated on behalf of the accused that he was growing the plants to extract oil to provide him with some relief from MS.

Judge Dara Hayes said Mr Brenda had obviously a significant debilitating condition but the law was that possession of any kind of cannabis was illegal.

Det Gda Gerard Blaine testified that at 5pm on February 21, 2022, gardaí searched the house under warrant.

They saw a tent in the corner of a room near a window. It contained mature cannabis plants.

The rest of the property was searched and officers found a digital weighing scale, a 4kg bag of cannabis, a 3kg bag and various smaller amounts.

Det Gda Blaine continued that a lot of the drugs were of poor quality. One bag was saturated which would have increased its weight.

Mr Brenda, who had little English, co-operated with the investigation. He said he was making oil to self medicate. On occasion he gave drugs to friends.

He has one previous conviction from 2014 for Section 3 possession of cannabis, and had not come to garda attention since the incident in question.

Cross-examined by SC Colman Cody (Cliodhna Breen BL), instructed by solicitor Niall Breen, the witness agreed that the man’s condition had deteriorated.

A Polish national, he got the diagnosis in 2019 and ceased working as a carpenter. He had been on disability since.

Det Gda Blaine said he didn’t believe that Mr Brenda, who has children, would come to attention again.

Judge Hayes said that one line of a probation report suggesting that the defendant continued to use cannabis was of some concern.

Mr Cody said he instructed that he was not using cannabis now.

Mr Brenda’s condition had deteriorated significantly. He was due to attend the Mater Hospital for further treatment.

He was law abiding in all other respects and prepared to provide urinalysis.

Judge Hayes said this was not a case where the defendant was directly engaged in criminal behaviour.

A positive probation report him assessed him at low risk of reoffending. There was significant mitigation.

Mr Brenda was remanded on the same bail terms to October 20 for three clean urinalysis reports.