Cultivating cannabis? It's like growing tomatoes, says judge

A judge has refused to impose an antisocial behaviour order on a man cultivating cannabis because it is “no worse than having tomato plants”.

He also told Oxford City Council, who applied for the ASBO, that it was “the sort of thing they do in Russia or China”.

Twelve cannabis plants, worth £3,400, were discovered growing under special hydroponic lights at Phillip Pledge’s council flat. The council sought a possession order for the National Blood Service driver’s home and an ASBO banning him from the housing estate for two years.
Judge Charles Harris, QC, refused both applications, saying that smoking cannabis did not constitute a nuisance. The judge said: “Smoking or possession of a quantity of cannabis, though a criminal offence, does not constitute a nuisance.

Mr Pledge, a business partner in Oxford Hydroponics, represented himself in court.