Fed up with the wheels of justice turning slower than he would like, a Nimbin man who posted a video of his cannabis crop on Facebook in March has requested to stand trial.
Peter Till was arrested on March 22 after posting a video showing some of the 512 plants seized by police during his arrest.
He was charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant, supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited plant, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and cultivating a prohibited drug.
After initially being refused bail, Mr Till, who refuses to acknowledge that is his name, was granted conditional bail to reside with his neighbour and not consume cannabis.
But Mr Till, who claims smoking cannabis helps prevent him from going blind, went to Nimbin on April 11 and posted on Facebook about getting stoned.
He was arrested the following day and at his last appearance in Lismore Local Court the court heard he was applying for Supreme Court bail on June 6.
The court previously heard the Director of Public Prosecutions had elected to take carriage of Mr Till’s matters.
On Tuesday, Mr Till appeared in Lismore Local Court via videolink from prison and represented himself.
‘Excuse me, I am not Mr Till,’ he said when Magistrate Jeff Linden addressed him by name.
‘I would like to note that all the cannabis was taken off community land, not my personal space.
‘It was all taken from public space.
‘It was a group protesting, so how am I in control of it if it was a group.’
DPP Prosecutor Danielle Collin told the court the charge of cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant was withdrawn and Mr Till’s matters were ready to be committed for trial in the District Court.
Mrs Collin said the DPP would be committing Mr Till for trial on the charges of supplying an indictable quantity of cannabis and cultivating a prohibited drug.
The remaining charges were placed on a section 166 certificate, which Mrs Collin tendered to be considered by the Judge at sentencing.
‘I’m sitting here going blind,’ Mr Till said.
‘I’d like to get it over and done with so I’d like it done as quick as possible if you don’t mind.
‘I’d like to go to trial as soon as possible please.’
Ms Collin requested a full psychiatric assessment be conducted on Mr Till and a report be prepared to be considered at sentencing.
‘Why, I object,’ Mr Till said.
‘Just because I have different beliefs and views doesn’t mean I’m crazy.’
‘How long is the psychiatric assessment going to take,’ Mr Till asked.
‘Four weeks,’ Mr Linden replied.
Mr Till’s matters were adjourned until July 26, when he will be arraigned to stand trial in the District Court.
While the principal driver of the “War on Drugs” , the USA , has increasing numbers of member states legalising Cannabis for personal use and making Cannabis available for medicinal use those who govern Australia continue to live in a parallel universe that equates it with drugs such as Heroin. Not only that but the governors, the political class, continue to abuse public trust and direct publicly funded functions like Law enforcement and the Judiciary to expend resources on what is basically a personal health matter instead of concentrating on areas of substance abuse ( Ice, Cocaine, Xanax, Valium etc ) , Pedophilia, Domestic Violence, Corruption etc. Mr.Till’s business is a matter of private concern that should interest only himself and medical practitioners that he chooses to consult. If he has committed a crime where is the victim ? Is it the “Crown” ? If it is then things have changed since Queen Victoria used the herb to manage her pain. The herb remains the same herb.
The law also needs to amend their driving rules by allowing those using medical cannabis to still drive their car. There are many people in extreme pain who would like to get relief by taking medicinal cannabis but need to be able to use their car, but under the current rules cannot for fear of being stopped & drug tested.The medicinal form does not have the content that makes a person high, it is just like any other pain killer so why don’t law enforcement get up to speed with this.
The director of the DPP and crown to with draw the charges of large commercial