Anthony David Bower, 58, of Maria River Road, appeared in Port Macquarie District Court to appeal the severity of his sentence.

Bower, the proprietor of Mullaways Medical Cannabis, was sentenced to 12 months jail on August 28 after being convicted of cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis at his Crescent Head property.

Police seized 67 plants from the property with an estimated street value of $70,000 on April 6. The plants were destroyed on April 11.

Bower had been on unconditional bail since magistrate Thomas Hodgson’s verdict in August.

On Tuesday afternoon Bower had his appeal dismissed by district court judge Paul Conlon.

Judge Conlon issued Bower a number of penalties, but none of them was imprisonment.

Bower was ordered to serve a good behaviour bond according to section 9 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999. 

The decision follows provisional support for medicinal cannabis from state politicians including NSW deputy premier Andrew Stoner and Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams.

The Australian Medical Association has backed clinical trials into pain relief and appetite stimulation, and NSW premier Mike Baird said he would support his own family’s use if they were terminally ill.