GRANNY’S MARIJUANA CHARGE UP IN SMOKE

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GRANNY'S MARIJUANA CHARGE UP IN SMOKE


A 70-year-old woman received an absolute discharge Thursday after being arrested last summer for smoking marijuana in public.


Jean Cooper, a mother of six, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of one, pleaded guilty to the charge of possessing less than 30 grams of pot. Cooper said she wasn't surprised about the way the case turned out. She said any judge with a lick of sense and an ounce of compassion would have done the same.


The senior was arrested on Aug. 30 after three police officers walked into Up In Smoke Cafe, a weed-friendly shop in Hamilton, Ont., where patrons openly smoke marijuana.


Federal drug prosecutor Jeffrey Levy said Cooper told police she had a doctor's note permitting her to smoke marijuana for medical reasons.


She later acknowledged she did not have a legal exemption because she never applied to Health Canada.


Duty counsel Kirsten Hughes filed correspondence from Health Canada to show Cooper had at least made inquiries about getting a legal exemption form to use marijuana for medical reasons. Cooper began smoking pot about a year ago to help relieve symptoms of advanced osteoarthritis.