provided her with a sublingual tincture prepared from carefully selected cannabis plants . It led to substantial improvement and she was able to reduce her morphine dosage with its associated side effects ”. For showing such compassion and understanding , he was charged with professional misconduct . “ Cannabis can be used to relieve an enormous amount of pain and suffering and is safer to use than Panadol ”, Dr Andrew Katelaris , June 2015 The Sydney Morning Herald reported in August , 2006 that a Sydney doctor who grew 49,519 ‘ cannabis ’ plants would not serve a custodial sentence . Dr Katelaris was convicted of one count of cultivating not less than a large commercial quantity of cannabis after drug squad detectives raided his property where he was growing a half hectare crop of hemp . He grew the plants on his property near Dungog in the NSW Hunter Valley in 2005 , having been involved in industrial hemp research and medical cannabis experimentation since 1989 . The court was told the crop had a low tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ) content , making it of no value as a ‘ drug ’. During sentencing submissions , the court was told Dr Katelaris ’ licence as a medical practitioner in NSW had been revoked for three years with the NSW Medical Tribunal banning Dr Katelaris over the self-administration of cannabis and for supplying it to some patients .
The Judge told the court Dr Katelaris would not be imprisoned , however , he was to be charged for possession of cannabis when police officers discovered him trying to bring a plant into the courtroom ! At the 2006 hearing the Judge said he had no idea what the appropriate penalty was for growing a crop that , while prohibited , had been found to be so low in THC that it was practically useless as a recreational ‘ drug ’. Dr Katelaris was acquitted on the possession charge but his indignation on being found guilty of cultivating a commercial quantity of hemp led to a further prosecution for contempt of court , after he likened the jury to a “ group of twelve sheep ”. Fighting that charge , he said the judge in the case was “ morbidly obese ” and “ his ego was bruised by the fact he could not stay awake ” during the trial , but this defence did not persuade the judge and he was convicted and placed on a three-year good behaviour bond .
In 2012 , asked about the ethical issues raised by breaking the law , Dr Katelaris said , “ It is not a matter of ethics , it is about the scientific evidence that overwhelmingly shows that cannabis has a beneficial effect on the symptoms of severe disease including spinal spasticity and MS , HIV and cancer . The illegality stems from racist and corrupt laws put in place in the US in the 1930 ’ s . The law should serve humans , but instead the cannabis laws cause harm and serve to persecute a most disadvantaged group in society . Because of the illegality there is a $ 5- billion black market with profits mostly going to organised crime . What are the ethics of forcing sick people to go to criminals ?”
Since 1989 he has been experimenting with the medicinal uses of cannabis . Initially to assist in the management of chronic pain and spasticity , and the results were very encouraging , in most cases , improving pain control whilst reducing the need for narcotics . In 2013 he obtained cannabidiol ( CBD ) dominant cannabis seeds from Spain and began experimenting with this to control the seizures of children afflicted with intractable epilepsy ( the major cause of preventable brain damage ). Intractable epilepsy is , by definition , any seizure disorder that cannot be controlled by current medication .