Marijuana intended for elderly arthritis sufferers, court told

A Darwin court has heard that a man who has pleaded guilty to growing marijuana intended to supply it to elderly people suffering arthritis.

Craine Lucas Wattam, 37, pleaded guilty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to unlawfully cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis.

Police discovered the 45 plants when they visited his Darwin River property on an unrelated matter in January this year.

The court heard that Wattam had been approached to grow the plants by a group of elderly people in Palmerston who used the drug to relieve symptoms of arthritis.

Their own backyard plants had been persistently raided by thieves.

The court heard Wattam had simply scattered seeds in pots and did not intend to grow that number of plants. Nor did he intend on profiting from them.

He has been sentenced to nine months' jail suspended immediately.