A JOINER who smokes four or five cannabis cigarettes a day to relax, appeared in court charged with possessing the drug.

James Shoulder, 31, admitted possessing 15.6g cannabis resin and 18.5g of cannabis herb.

James Thomas, prosecuting, told Darlington magistrates that the father-of-two was also found to have £1,500 in the house.

"He made full and frank admissions to the police. He says he has a stressful job and smokes about four or five joints a night.

"He explained the £1,500 was money he had got because he is a self-employed joiner who does loft conversions."

Mitigating, Laura Saunders-Jerrom, said Shoulder, of Hundens Lane, Darlington, had the drug for personal use and took a responsible attitude to it, in that he never smoked it in front of his children.

"He finds the whole thing of being self employed quite stressful, with all kinds of taxes, worries about work coming in, payments being made and so on.

"He has had a relationship with cannabis since he was 16 and says it's a good way to relax and relieve stress. There are more and more reports coming out saying it is a great stress reliever, it is becoming more acceptable."

She added: "The amount of drugs found is actually just £75 worth. Cannabis has been downgraded from Class B to a Class C drug and there has been a shift in attitude to taking this drug both socially and medically.

"One might argue it is better than drink. If it was drink may be he would be smashing someone up in the Market Place on a Saturday night."

Magistrates fined him £200.