Marijuana grower stands trial

MEDAN, North Sumatra: The district court of Tanah Karo, 120 km southern of here, charged a farmer with growing and selling marijuana or ganja by the local term.

Prosecutor A. Ginting said the 31-year-old defendant used to sell his products to the neighboring province of Pekanbaru.

The accused was arrested in December on his farm at Ramba Kinakom, Mardinding sub-district, when he was selling 30 kg of marijuana leaves to his customer for Rp 200,000 (US$84) a kilogram, Antara reported Monday.

The prosecutor said the defendant had long cultivated the illegal plant but nobody noticed because he was known only as a farmer grew tomatoes, carrots and potatoes.(16)