A 54-year-old man who claims to use the drug methamphetamine to deal with his back pain and sciatica, was told this treatment was “misguided” in Mudgee Local Court on Wednesday.
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Charlie Xuereb of Frog Rock Road, Frog Rock, was convicted and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond for charges of ‘Possession of equipment for administering prohibited drugs’ and three counts of ‘Possess prohibited drug’.
At 2pm on Monday, April 30, 2018, police executed a search warrant on Xuereb’s property.
Upon meeting him at the door officers asked him if he had any items that he wished to declare.
Xuereb took them through the house and into the dining room where a bowl containing 0.1g of cannabis was located.
Then into the wardrobe of the main bedroom where he handed over a glass pipe and 0.3g of methamphetamine.
Police continued their search of the house in order to complete the warrant.
I don’t know much about pharmacology Mr Xuereb, but I think I know more than you, methamphetamine isn’t known for its pain relieving qualities. It’s a powerful stimulant.
- Magistrate David Day
Further exploration found three more glass pipes in a cupboard under the kitchen sink, as well as 1.7g of cannabis and 1.8g of cannabis seed in the bedroom.
Xuereb admitted to officers that the drugs and equipment were his and for his own personal use.
Representing himself in court he submitted that he used the drugs – including methamphetamine – to deal with his chronic back pain.
However, Magistrate David Day suggested that the defendant was “misguided in his belief”.
“I don’t know much about pharmacology Mr Xuereb, but I think I know more than you, methamphetamine isn’t known for its pain relieving qualities,” he said.
“It’s a powerful stimulant.”
Last year Xuereb appeared in court on several charges of driving with the drug in his system, again making the claim the it helps him deal with sciatica.
On the last occasion in September, when representing himself he told the court that the condition had him “rolling on the floor in pain”.