B.C. grandpa given jail time for starting pot grow-op to supplement pension

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – A British Columbia grandfather who started a marijuana grow-op to augment his small pension has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Donald Clarkson, who is 76, pleaded guilty to production of marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking after police raided a building on his property two years ago.

Court heard that officers were alerted to a pungent smell coming from Clarkson’s rental property in the North Thompson Valley and found 150 small pot plants valued at about $60,000.

Clarkson told a B.C. Supreme Court judge in Kamloops on Monday that he only started the operation because his pension wasn’t big enough.

Crown and defence lawyers made a joint submission for the six-month jail term — the minimum sentence after the federal government toughened Canada’s drug laws.

Defence lawyer Sheldon Tate told court that Clarkson, a retired trucker, lived a modest life and his only motive was financial gain.

(Kamloops This Week)