A RYDE man who believed he was exempt from criminal prosecution because he had a Cancard to use cannabis, was fined by Island magistrates for sourcing a cheaper, illegal alternative on the street. 

Eamonn Loughlin, 28, of High Street, admitted possessing cannabis on August 27 last year.

Loughlin, unemployed, was arrested on unrelated matters and a search of his property was conducted. Officers found three ounces of cannabis there, said Ann Smout, prosecuting, at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court, Newport.

Although he admitted the cannabis was his for his own personal use, he argued he was legally entitled to it because he possessed a Cancard — a medical ID card, recognised by the police as a validated indication to any third-party, the holder consumes cannabis for medical reasons.

However, Mrs Smout said the cannabis Loughlin acquired was illegally purchased.

"There's a difference between getting cannabis on prescription, via your GP, and buying it on the street, which is what happened in this case," Mrs Smout explained to the bench.

For Loughlin, Jim Osborne said because his client suffers from a range of mental illnesses — which includes unstable personality disorder, ADHD and PTSD — and that cannabis prescribed to him controls those conditions.

"Unfortunately, the medication costs £500, so he was faced with paying that much money to legally get medication — but he chose to go down a different route, which was a lot cheaper," said Mr Osborne.

"The cannabis he smoked does the same thing. It controls his conditions and he gets a good night's sleep, which allows him to function quite well.

"Since he stopped using it, however, he hasn't slept well — his conditions are coming back and he eats too much, which is a side effect."

Magistrates fined Loughlin £80, with £85 costs and a £34 surcharge.