Accused woman says she uses pot to treat back pain

A Yellowknife woman charged with growing and possessing marijuana for the purpose of traffickingtold a jury Thursdayshestarted growing marijuana because the drug was the best way to treat pain she suffers as a result of a spinal injury.

KimMacNearneyand her husband Craig areaccused of running an illegal marijuana growing operation in theirNorthlandTrailer Park home.

She saidthey are a single income family with two children and could not afford to buy marijuana on the streets.MacNearneyalso saidthey never sold any of the marijuana they grew.

MacNearneysaid she had been taking Tylenol3sand other drugs to treat her pain for years but they had many side effects, including dizziness and severe constipation, and became less and less effective in treating her pain.

MacNearneywas questioned by her lawyer about a text conversation in which a man, Rob Green, asked CraigMacNearneyif he had anymeds.

She said Green and his wife are close friends andthat they smoked marijuana together regularly.

In the texts which police retrieved from CraigMacNearney'scell phone after his arrest CraigMacNearneysays he has "greenmeds" and that "Kim will hook you up."

Green later texts back asking CraigMacNearneyif he's got any use for a cordless drill.

Police saw that as an offer to trade the drill for the marijuana.

But KimMacNearneysays she and her husband have never sold marijuana.

Green also testified Thursday.He said he was moving out of Yellowknife and trying to unload items and was simply asking theMacNearneyswho he knew did not have a lot of moneyif they had any use for the old drill.

Kim MacNearney now has a Health Canada licence to possess up to 360 grams of marijuana.

She says she would never have tried growing marijuana in her home if she had realized how severe the consequences could be.

Their children were apprehended and put in foster care for two weeks following their arrest.

MacNearneyis scheduled to be questioned by the prosecutor Friday.