A man put cannabis in a washing machine in an attempt to extract THC during the spin cycle, a court has been told.
Kevin Michael Penrose, 29, of Hokitika was sentenced to 120 hours of community work after he admitted charges of cultivating cannabis, possessing cannabis and possessing cannabis utensils
when he appeared in Greymouth District Court on Tuesday.
Police who searched Penrose's house on March 17 found several buckets of green residue from his washing machine.
Penrose said that he had been told it was possible to extract THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, from the water once it had settled.
Lawyer Eymard Bradley said Penrose had embarked on an "unfortunate experiment".