Leading cannabis advocate tells jury to find him guilty

A leading cannabis advocate, who went on trial after police discovered two grow sites and nearly 100 plants, made the jury’s task easier with his closing speech.

“You have no choice but to find me guilty,” he claimed, arguing that his case hinged on the ethics of growing your own marijuana.

The jury agreed and returned a guilty verdict within eleven minutes.

Brian Thomas Borland, 68, appeared in Whangārei District Court on Thursday charged with three charges relating to the cultivation and trafficking of cannabis at two locations in the Northland region on separate occasions.

Borland is no stranger to the court system. In the late 2000s, he was involved with the now defunct Daktory Social Smoking Clubs in New Lynn and Whangārei.

In November 2022, police attempted to stop a car in Dargaville when the driver pulled into a lot on Bassett St.

When Detective Wendy McDermott got out of her car to question the driver, she saw Borland running across the lot and moving items behind the garage.

McDermott found eight cannabis plants that were still in the early stages. When she asked Borland whose they were, he replied, “Mine.”

“Why are you growing cannabis?” she asked.

“Because it’s too expensive to buy and there’s no reason why people can’t use cannabis,” Borland responded.

He told McDermott: “I will continue to grow and use cannabis no matter what.”

He was charged in connection with the 45 plants found at the site.

In January 2023, he founded a company called Roaring Lion Canna Enterprises, of which he was the sole director. He also started a Facebook page where he actively advertised the sale of cannabis and cannabis seeds.

A year after the Dargaville raid and following an anonymous tip, police searched his last home in Totara North, where they found 52 plants and more than 600 grams of cannabis in various locations.

He was re-indicted, pleaded not guilty, and represented himself at a jury trial before Judge Philip Rzepecky and a jury of ten women and two men.

He chose not to make an opening statement or present evidence. However, during his cross-examination of Far North Detective Chris Renata, he asked if Renata could remember that the 55 grams of cannabis found in his car was in a medicine box with his name on it. Renata could not remember that.

A court hearing was played in which Borland admitted to trading on Facebook, claiming he targeted clients with medical needs.

Borland said he had been in the cannabis business for nearly 50 years, spent nearly seven years in prison and had appeared in court 10 times for cannabis-related offenses.

He told Renata in the interview that he had set up a legitimate cannabis business, for which he planned to pay GST and taxes, and that he was building up stock to sell.

He said he could not estimate the financial return from the harvest as yields had dropped significantly due to the glut of cannabis in the local market.

“The whole cycle takes four months before anything is harvested and the harvest is worth nothing until it reaches the four-month stage. That’s the only time cannabis has any value, it (the plants) has no monetary value at all,” Borland told the detective.

Concluding, the court’s attorney, Pablo Hambler, told the jury that there was no doubt that the elements of the offense had been met.

“You may sympathize with his position, but this is not a question of what the law should be or what Borland would like it to be. The law of cultivating it and selling it to other people is illegal.”

Borland used his closing statement to explain that he had no choice but to plead not guilty so he could voice his opposition to cannabis legislation.

“Not all of our laws are fair and the judiciary has a moral and ethical obligation to ensure that the laws they enforce are fair and just. Cannabis laws are not fair and all they do is protect medical companies that sell an inferior product,” he told the jury.

He then went on to talk about his experiences of buying prescription drugs “without asking questions” and standing up for all New Zealanders.

“Everyone should have the right to grow their own cannabis if they want to.

“I don’t know what else you can do other than find me guilty, but the laws need to be changed and the reason I took these actions was simply to defy the law.”

The jury returned with a guilty verdict in 11 minutes. While sentencing was being discussed, he told the judge he had one more request.

“It’s jail or nothing.”

Judge Rzepecky replied: “I realize that you take a moral stand, but you are not a young man – you are even older than me – and it is not easy to go to prison. It seems like a waste of a life, but it is entirely up to you, you seem to make a martyr of yourself.”

“I just have to do what I have to do,” Borland said.

“Okay, well, as you see it,” said Judge Rzpecky.

Borland will be sentenced at a later date.

By Shannon Pitman