HOUSE ARREST FOR MARIJUANA GROWER

[Cure20]

SAINT JOHN ( CP ) -- A New Brunswick woman found growing 56 marijuana plants has been sentenced to house arrest after telling the judge she used it to deal with intense pain.

Defence lawyer Allen Doyle says Leslie Marie Jorgensen took heavy doses of prescription drugs in the years following a root canal operation in 1995.

However, she found she still could not deal with her pain, and turned to marijuana.

Doyle says her family doctor was aware she wanted to use marijuana but was not willing to help her get a legal supply of the drug through Health Canada.

Provincial Court Judge Anne Jeffries says she would go along with the house arrest. However, she warned Jorgensen that she did not believe that one person needed 56 marijuana plants to meet her own needs.