Trail starts for Westport man charged with 2.5kg dried cannabis for sale

Cannabis plant. Photo supplied by New Zealand Police.

A jury trial opened this morning for a Westport man who was allegedly found with more than 1000 cannabis seedlings, 27 mature plants, 2.5kg of the dried drug and $14,000 in cash.

Mark Wayne Davis was charged with possessing 2.5kg of dried cannabis for sale. He is defending the charge in the Greymouth District Court.

The court heard a police search of Davis's home on December 17, 2013, discovered 27 cannabis plants in a shed, along with 1028 cannabis seedlings in a garage. In the house police found 2.5 kg of dried cannabis, alongside a dehydrator and a number of plastic bags, plus another bag containing $14,000 in cash.

Crown prosecutor Anselm Williams said Davis had already pleaded guilty to the charges of cannabis cultivation and possession of equipment for cannabis cultivation. However, he denied a charge that he was in possession of the 2.5kg of dried material for the purposes of selling it.

Mr Williams said Davis had said the cannabis was for his own use as he and his wife were regular smokers of the drug, smoking up to 10 cannabis cigarettes a day. Davis had also said that the large amount of cash found at the property was from the sale of firewood and whitebait.

"The actual issue in this case ... is whether he had it for his own use or whether he had it because he intended to sell all or some of it," Mr Williams said.

The Crown case was that the 2.5kg would be enough to make between 5000 and 7500 cannabis cigarettes, and the cannabis from the seedlings would be enough to make between 124,000 and 187,000 cigarettes.

The Crown would also present evidence that even a heavy smoker of the drug would smoke between four and six cannabis cigarettes a day.

Over the course of the past seven years, Davis and his wife had a total declared income of $38,833, or less than $600 a month. However, as well as possessing the $14,000 in cash, on November 1, 2013, Davis bought a $40,000 four-wheel drive vehicle for which he provided a $9000 cash deposit.

The couple also made two trips to Australia over that period, and between March and December 2013 Davis and his wife spent more than $16,000 in cash, Mr Williams said.

Lawyer Doug Taffs said there was no argument from Davis about possessing the cannabis or cultivating it.

"It will be my client's position that [his wife] became very heavily, deeply dependent on cannabis. He smoked a little bit," Mr Taffs said.

Unlike in other cases, where it would be necessary for the burden of proof to be beyond a reasonable doubt, "in this case we only have to prove on the balance of probabilities his intent was not to sell cannabis, that it was more likely than not".

The trial is expected to last until Wednesday.

-Greymouth Star