A BRISTOL tattoo artist boiled cannabis plants down to make butter, and also put a class A substance in his tea, claiming it "helped with his art".
Police raided Alex Stark's address in Oxford Street, Totterdown, and found six cannabis plants (like the one pictured here) growing in a tent in a bedroom, plus bags of cannabis and tree bark, used to make Class A drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT), in his freezer. They also found a bag of mushrooms, containing Class A drug psilocin, and a jar of DMT in the form of white powder.
After he and his girlfriend were arrested on June 20 Stark, 26, came clean and told police all the drugs belonged to him. At Bristol Magistrates' Court yesterday Stark was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order and told to pay £85 costs.
Andrea Edwards, prosecuting, said that Stark told police he was an "artistic individual" who worked as a tattoo artist. "He said he had started taking drugs aged 13 and that they helped with his art," she said. "He also said that he took an interest in plants and that he grew the cannabis for his own personal use so that he did not have to mix with 'dodgy individuals'. "Stark said he smoked cannabis every day after work and would make cannabis butter by boiling down the plants. Regarding the tree bark that was found in his freezer, Stark told police he bought it off the internet believing it was a legal high and used it to make tea. "He said he realised the powder was illegal but had been given the mushrooms by a friend and was not aware they contained a Class A drug."
Rebecca Weatherley, defending, said that Stark's set-up was "not sophisticated". "These were plants he grew for his own use so that he didn't have to associate with drug dealers. The drug DMT is quite an unusual substance and he didn't realise it was illegal. "He is self-employed and lives at a stable address. He is of previous good character apart from two drink-related offences from 2003. "He tells me he has found the whole process of court 'scary' and that it has encouraged him to change his life."
