(Papeete) The wealthy Canadian founder of Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberté, was sentenced Tuesday in Papeete to a fine of 16,600 euros (approximately CA$24,700) for possession and use of cannabis on his private Tuamotu atoll in French Polynesia .
Questioned Tuesday by the magistrates at the hearing, Guy Laliberté explained that he suffered from chronic pain, which he relieved thanks to THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.
“I don’t like smoke […] I make oils and honey and I take them as an infusion,” declared the artist and businessman, while specifying that he consumed it for a purpose “mainly medical “. Which is legal in Canada, as he pointed out.
The criminal court declared Mr. Laliberté not guilty for part of the charges, but found him guilty of possession and use.
In 2019, one of the employees of Nukutepipi, where Guy Laliberté built luxury bungalows, was arrested in Tahiti in possession of cannabis, intended for other employees of this isolated atoll.
The 48 plants had been used as a test, he said, but the “first harvest did not take place” due to the intervention of the police.
Mr. Laliberté was defended by Mr. Yves Piriou and Parisian lawyer Jean-Yves Le Borgne, who pleaded not guilty. “They wanted to make a billionaire […] An ordinary citizen would not have received the same treatment,” deplored Mr. Piriou.
Me Le Borgne considered that no material evidence proved his client’s guilt. He also looked back at the evolution of legislation in various countries, such as Germany.
Mr. Laliberté regularly visits the United States, a country that is very careful about the legal records of non-nationals who wish to cross its borders.