ST. LOUIS • A St. Louis man had no legal right under a Missouri pro-farming law to grow a crop of marijuana plants in his Carondelet neighborhood home, a judge has ruled.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker on Friday sentenced Mark Shanklin to 120 days of “shock time” and five years of probation following a July bench trial in which Dierker found him guilty of two counts of drug distribution and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.
Shanklin, 53, of the 600 block of Haven Street, was caught with more than 300 plants in his home. He didn’t dispute that he was growing marijuana but argued the “right-to-farm” amendment voters approved in 2014 guarantees the right to cultivate marijuana. The amendment states, in part, that “the right of farms and ranches to engage in farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this state.”
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St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker on Friday sentenced Mark Shanklin to 120 days of “shock time” and five years of probation following a July bench trial in which Dierker found him guilty of two counts of drug distribution and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.
Shanklin, 53, of the 600 block of Haven Street, was caught with more than 300 plants in his home. He didn’t dispute that he was growing marijuana but argued the “right-to-farm” amendment voters approved in 2014 guarantees the right to cultivate marijuana. The amendment states, in part, that “the right of farms and ranches to engage in farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this state.”
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