MONTEGO BAY, St James – A man who told the court that the ganja found in his car was to be boiled for his teenaged daughter’s asthma was fined $14,400, after pleading guilty to three counts of breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Barrington Mathews pleaded guilty with explanation to possession of ganja, dealing in ganja and trafficking ganja, when he appeared before Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry.

Mathews was stopped in a spot check along the Mt Pelier main road on June 17 at about 8:20 pm and a black plastic bag with three lbs of ganja was found in the back of his car.

On Monday, he told the court he was taking it home to boil it for his 17-year-old daughter who he said has asthma.

He also told the court that the ‘home medication’ had worked for him and also his mother.

RM Henry, however, advised the man to take his child to the hospital where she may be administered properly prescribed medicine; “until a doctor prescribes ganja, it is still against the law”, she told him.

Mathews was fined $4,800 or 30 days for possession of ganja and $9,600 or 30 days for trafficking and was admonished and discharged on the dealing charge.