Concerns about psychiatric patients having access to cannabis were raised in the Whangarei District Court yesterday when a man admitted selling the drug at Whangarei Hospital.
Lewis Craig King, 39, unemployed, pleaded guilty to one charge of selling cannabis to a 19-year-old mental health patient on one occasion in the past month.
The transaction took place on hospital grounds.
Police prosecutor, Sergeant Barrie Iggo told the court police had received numerous complaints in recent months about patients having access to cannabis.
"Investigations revealed much of the illicit activity centres on vulnerable patients seeking assistance for mental health problems," he said.
Hospital staff had expressed concern to police over the "unpredictable and often dangerous" side effects of mixing cannabis with prescription medicines.
Police searched King's home on Thursday and he admitted selling one $20 tinnie of cannabis to an unknown woman about one month earlier. He said the woman had asked him to supply the drug.
Defence counsel Amanda Courtney said King had been a patient at the hospital from time to time himself and the case had had a real impact on him.
Judge Stan Thorburn told King he took a dim view of the offending because of the particular people who had been targeted. He convicted King and fined him $300 and ordered him to pay court costs of $130.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
Patient buys cannabis on hospital grounds
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