Martin Condon, a vocal cannabis campaigner from Cork, Ireland, has been found guilty of multiple counts of cultivating cannabis. His activism, documented on social media under the banner “Martin’s World,” involved openly planting cannabis plants in various locations across Cork City, including outside City Hall and Mayfield Garda Station. These acts, captured on video and shared online, served as a form of protest against Ireland’s strict cannabis laws.
Condon’s trial featured several of these videos, showcasing him planting cannabis in broad daylight while explaining his motivations. Judge John King, while watching one of the videos, remarked, “It is laughable really that this is a crime.” During the trial, Condon, dressed in a striking tracksuit emblazoned with cannabis leaves, defended his actions as civil disobedience.
He argued that his worsening epilepsy and the difficulties he faced in accessing cannabis as a patient prompted his actions. “Basically, all of the evidence is of me holding a civil disobedience protest,” Condon stated in court. “I felt frustrated, I suppose, with the dead ends met when trying to obtain cannabis as a patient.”
Condon’s defense team, led by solicitor Aoife Buttimer, argued that his actions were deliberate attempts to challenge what they perceived as unjust laws. “There was nothing sophisticated about the offending. He didn’t try to conceal it. He refers to it as civil disobedience protest,” Buttimer argued. Despite this defense, the court proceedings were thorough, with Inspector Clodagh O’Sullivan presenting video evidence while the defense highlighted that the plants Condon used were non-intoxicating hemp varieties.
“The cannabis plants I planted were all of the genus cannabis, but they were all hemp that would have got nobody high. They would have intoxicated no person,” Condon asserted. “The risk to the public from these plants was next to non-existent. I was the only person at risk by my actions.” He further cited Martin Luther King’s principle of “I have a moral duty to disobey unjust laws,” expressing his aim to spark a national dialogue and “have his day in court.”
Judge King ultimately convicted Condon on five of the six counts of cannabis cultivation, dismissing one count due to the plant in question not being planted. Sentencing has been adjourned until November 25, with a probation report to be prepared on Condon. Judge King inquired whether Condon’s activism had ceased, to which Condon responded that his worsening epilepsy had hampered his ability to continue his protest activities, which spanned from April to September 2021.
