Shortly after a non-legally conviction, police found cannabis plants again with the 58-year-old.

The chairman of the Cannabis Social Club has been detained almost four weeks after a conviction at the Salzburg regional court. The police found in the apartment of the 58-year-old 37 cannabis plants, as well as cannabis and oil. On February 2, 2017, the man was unlegally sentenced to two months’ imprisonment for the cultivation of 109 cannabis plants. Already in court, he announced that he wanted to continue cultivating cannabis.

On Monday, the police carried out a house search, ordered by the prosecutor’s office, says the prosecutor Robert Holzleitner. “The suspect 58-year-old, despite a condemnation, was not prevented from cannabis cultivation.” There is a liability for the risk of crime, says Holzleitner. “We have been investigating the man since May 2016, with a total of 237 cannabis plants.” The prosecutor’s office is to apply for an investigation on Tuesday.

The man suffers from chronicle pain

The Associate has suffered chronicle pain since an accident in 2004. Wilhelm Wallner, a former truck driver, had been seriously injured in the mid-2000s. What initially looked like a sprain proved to be severe cartilage and ligament damage. Three surgeries and long hospital stay followed. An ankle implant was used. Finally, he was sent to the disability board. Willi had been sentenced to a conditional two-month imprisonment on 1 February at the regional court of Salzburg. According to the court, at least as of March 2012 cannabis was cultivated in an unknown quantity against his pain, consumed and, in a few cases, passed on to fellow sufferers.

Against the pain he was prescribed morphine, which he did not tolerate according to his own data. In 2008, he started experimenting with cannabis. And the plant – as an infusion for tea, extracted as an oil and sometimes smoked – showed immediate positive effect. “The cannabis had a pain and inflammation-inhibiting effect. If I had taken the morphine further, I would be a nursing case today,” he said on Wednesday in Salzburg.

In 2012, however, he was in conflict with the drug law. “I knew it was forbidden, but it just helped me.” In September 2015 after several indications the trial against the man began. “I am forced to cultivate cannabis,” he said at the time. The substitute medication paid by the health insurance company Sativex had only helped conditionally. “It has worked for a while, but not more.” The process was subsequently postponed several times in order to obtain expert opinions.

According to experts, Christian Lampl, former President of the Austrian Pain Society, there are enough studies that prove the analgesic effects of cannabinoids. In addition, the accused had made conclusive statements. “He would hardly have had much options for medical treatment in traditional pain medicine.” The limited effect of Sativex on the defendant was conceivable. “Awareness of the receptors and a dose increase is possible.”
That is why he has also grown several varieties, said the defendant. “I sit between two armchairs, the doctors say one, the judiciary the other.” And the 57-year-old made no secret of his displeasure on Wednesday. “This is worse than a witch hunt in the Middle Ages, I’ve never done anything bad, and I’ve never been offered an addiction to the black market.” In Germany, 30km from where I live, cannabis can be grown legally at home for medical purposes. “This will come with us.” At the same time, he demanded from the judiciary the drug addict and confiscation for him, which he confiscated. “It would be a shame if you burned it. Show a heart,” he said to the judge.
Defendant to the judge: “Show a heart!”
The judge had expressed his understanding of the situation of the 58-year-old, but did not recognize an “apologizing emergency”. The defendant would have had to test everything against his pain beforehand, which would have been legally possible. A so-called multimodal therapy – a combination of several drugs, but also with psychotherapy or hypnosis – the 58-year-old had rejected, however, because cannabis clearly helps him. The man from Salzburg had appealed against the verdict after the trial.
The defendant, who appeared on Wednesday with no defense – “I can no longer afford it” – had always vehemently rejected this. “I do not break my body,” he said, announcing the appeal.

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