An Alberta man who made a trip to British Columbia to find a cheaper source of marijuana received an 18-month conditional sentence in Jasper court last week.

Donald Boudreau of Swan Hills was arrested on March 30 after being stopped by police on Highway 16 west of Jasper for a burned-out headlight.

The officer who pulled him over suspected there were drugs in the vehicle, court heard, and upon searching the car found five pounds of marijuana packed in luggage in the trunk.

Duty counsel Laurie Rodger said Boudreau, who has an injured knee and walks with a cane, had previously been taking Oxycontin as a pain killer but found he preferred marijuana and decided to switch to that drug, albeit without a prescription and, therefore, illegally.

“The situation, really, was a medical one,” Rodger said.

Rodger added that, on the day he was arrested, Boudreau was on his way back from a trip to B.C. where he had gone to buy marijuana in bulk at a cheaper price than he could find in Alberta.

Judge Vaughn Myers took issue with that claim though, pointing out that there was no way Boudreau could smoke that much marijuana before its “shelf life” expired.

“I didn’t know that,” Boudreau told the judge.

Rodger told the court that Boudreau was selling some marijuana “on the side” but that was only to help cover his costs and the 41-year-old truck driver was primarily using the drugs for his own personal consumption and pain issues.

Myers agreed with a joint submission from the Crown and defence and handed Boudreau an 18-month conditional sentence, according to which he must serve the first six months under house arrest except for work and medical appointments, the next six months with a curfew and the final six months with less stringent conditions.