A Casterton man who had messages on his phone relating to large drug deals has been placed on a community corrections order.
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Justin Andrew Smith pleaded guilty in the Hamilton Magistrates Court on Wednesday, July 10, to drug trafficking and related charges.
He was placed on a 12-month order, with the condition he do 120 hours of community work.
There's 60 hours of assessment, treatment and rehabilitation programs that can be counted off those hours.
The farm hand was found with significant amounts of drugs on the evening of November 16 last year, including 50 grams of cannabis, $900 in cash and 5.37 grams of methamphetamine as well as a morphine tablet and dried cannabis seeds.
There were messages on his mobile phone relating to inquiries about half a pound of cannabis and half an ounce of meth - large drug deals.
Payment was discussed with goods as a well as cash.
On March 27 this year the same address was raided by police and another 3.9 grams of meth was located in one of Smith's pants pockets.
A botanist report clarified the legal situation and led to Smith's plea.
Lawyer Isabelle Johnson said the offending was a de-escalation of offending last year and her client was now engaging with support services to address his issues.
That treatment included Smith returning clean urine screens between May and July this year and he's completed an online course with rehab service Odyssey House.
He's now doing a second online course.
"He's trying to get his life back on track," Ms Johnson said.
Smith admitted prior court appearances and the lawyer said her client started using cannabis before he left school in year nine.
"He's addressing his drug use and wants to become a productive member of society with the support of his family and services."
Smith had previously completed a CCO, which just involved community work.
Magistrate Peter Mellas said there was ample evidence that Smith had been selling cannabis and methamphetamine.
He noted that other people were paying for drugs by exchanging goods which led to the inference that the community was also being impacted by Smith's offending.
The case was a snapshot of Smith's behaviour that had a much wider impact in the community, the magistrate said.
