64yo brings half a kilo of marijuana interstate for cancer-sufferer

PREVIOUSLY | Man charged with supplying 'legally grown' cannabis

AN OLDER out-of-towner told his lawyer he definitely wouldn't be bringing in any more illegal drugs into Gladstone after he was caught driving around Gladstone with almost half a kilogram of marijuana. Milan Pero Tomljenovic, 64, only just made it to the Gladstone Magistrates Court on time when his connecting flight from Canberra was delayed in Brisbane on Friday morning. The court was told the Australian Capital Territory man had been intercepted by police on a previous visit to Gladstone, where they found 460g of cannabis inside his car. Defence lawyer Cassandra Ditchfield told Magistrate Melanie Ho her client had no criminal history in Queensland for the past 20 years and a very old history in the ACT as well. She said because the production and possession of marijuana was decriminalised in the ACT (growing three plants and possessing less than one gram), her client, who suffered from chronic back pain and used the drug to treat his pain simply wasn't thinking when he travelled with it interstate.

The court was told the defendant had cooperated with police during the interception significantly. Polcie prosecutor Sergeant Barry Stevens said Tomljenovic even admitted he was supplying the discovered drugs to a friend suffering from cancer. The court was told if he had refrained from telling police this detail they wouldn't have known and the second of the two charges wouldn't have been in front of the court. "He had so much on him because of the friend ... who lives in Gladstone," Ms Ditchfield said. "There was no money exchange and no bud, just leaf," which Ms Ditchfield explained was of "no real value". "His friend (who suffers from stomach cancer) was going to turn it into cannabis oil which helps with digestion." Tomljenovic pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawfully supply dangerous drugs and one charge of possessing dangerous drugs. He was fined $1000 and given the benefit of no conviction recorded. Originally published here: https://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/64yo-brings-half-a-kilo-of-marijuana-interstate-fo/3282177/