A MORTLAKE man who claims to smoke 100 cones of cannabis a day has been heavily fined after he and his brother were caught with cannabis weighing 13.71 kilograms.
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Adrian Carter, 44, and Jefrey Carter, 49, both of Dunlop Street, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to cultivating, possessing and using cannabis.
Both were fined $2000 with $119 costs.
Police received information about cannabis plants being grown at a Mortlake address and officers conducted a raid at the Carters' Dunlop Street address on April 8.
They found dried cannabis in two bedrooms and six plants growing in the back yard.
The total weight of the cannabis was 13.71 kilograms, with dried material 4.86kg and the fresh plants 8.86kg.
In an interview with police, Adrian Carter claimed he was a heavy cannabis user, smoked 100 cones a day and the cannabis found would have lasted him 12 months.
Jefrey Carter said the price of cannabis was $20 per gram and growing the drug would have saved him a large amount of money.
"It's cheaper to grow than buy," he said.
The cannabis was weighed again in June and the dried cannabis weighed 4.65kg and the fresh cannabis dropped four kilograms to 4.55kg.
Magistrate Peter Mellas said growing such large amounts of cannabis raised all sorts of questions but the evidence before the court was that the drugs were for personal use.
He said it was a “very successful” growing operation which had resulted in a significant amount of drugs.
The magistrate said the claim of smoking 100 cones a day was difficult to accept.
Mr Mellas said any evidence of cannabis trafficking would have resulted in jail terms being considered when kilograms of cannabis were involved.
