Detective Barry McLaughlan, with 33 years on the force, the past 11 years in specialist drug enforcement, said the cannabis head would have had a street value of about $16,000 and take an addict smoking five to six joints a day over two years to consume, but Cole's grow-room was capable of producing three crops a year.
The large quantity plus the fact that it had been packaged in pound, ounce and half-ounce bags suggested it was for sale.
"People growing for personal use just stash it in a loose bag, they have no need to break it down."
The charges relate to searches of Cole's car and house on June 25, 2011.
A constable conducting random vehicle inspections near Murchison pulled over Cole's vehicle. As the window was inoperable Cole opened the drivers' door, presenting the officer with a strong whiff of cannabis. A resulting search of the car revealed a small amount of cannabis, tweezers, three tabs of LSD and a small set of scissors in a metal container.
A tobacco pouch contained 3g of cannabis and a backpack on the back seat held a number of self-sealing plastic bags full of cannabis head, each labelled with its weight. A supermarket bag was also full of cannabis head, taking the tally from the car to 500g.
A search warrant was then executed on Cole's home, where a licorice bag held three self-sealing bags, each containing an ounce of cannabis, while a backpack held a further 936g of head and an old freezer was stuffed with 6kg of cannabis leaf.
Police also found digital scales, $2000 in cash, and a grow-room holding 20 new cannabis plants.
The Crown said that was far too much for Cole to smoke on his own, but in a short opening address to the jury, Cole said he had been using cannabis for medicinal purposes for 20 years and had a much higher tolerance for the drug than casual users had.
