Rosie Rowbotham Death, Obituary – Rosie Rowbotham, who had spent the longest time in prison for cannabis-related offences, passed yesterday at the age of 79. Rowbotham held the record for the most time spent in prison. Rosie was the most dogged and indefatigable hashish smuggler in Canada. No one could stop her. She was convicted of importing hashish on three separate occasions and served more than 20 years in federal prison for her crimes. Rosie was arguably the most renowned hashish smuggler in Canadian history. Rosie was handed a sentence of 20 years in prison each time, yet she only served 7 years in prison each time despite receiving the maximum possible punishment.
Between the years 1974 and 1998, a total of 21 of those 24 years were served by her behind bars. Following that, the next three years were devoted concocting plans for smuggling contraband, purchasing vessels that were equipped for ocean travel, and personally captaining the vessels from Lebanon all the way up to the coast of Nova Scotia. 5,400 nautical miles! It would take exactly ten thousand nautical kilometres for a single ship carrying between three and five tonnes of hashish to traverse both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Although there were three distinct expeditions that resulted in arrests and captures, a few individuals were successful in evading capture.
This occurred three times during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s: once in the 1970s, once during the 1980s, and once during the 1990s. The fact that they were not violent crimes contributed to the fact that he was released after serving only 7 years of the 20 year sentences. More than twenty years’ worth of combined time spent imprisoned all together! Following his eventual release in 1997, he never made another attempt to smuggle anything into the country. Rosie was a well-known hash dealer at Rochdale College in Toronto from the years 1969 until 1974. Her tenure there spanned from 1969 until 1974. Following that, Rosie came to the conclusion that he wanted to purchase the hashish from the producer in a one-on-one transaction.
After obtaining three tonnes of hashish in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, he then obtained a small ship that was barely capable of ocean travel and navigated the hash smuggling boat over the Mediterranean and Atlantic Oceans. Each time, he made a profit. The trip may have taken as long as six weeks, but the average duration was between between twenty-five and thirty days. He was successful in completing a number of missions and transported the hash to the shore of Nova Scotia without encountering any problems. Following his capture, arrest, and subsequent sentencing to a term of seven years in prison, he promptly started making preparations for his subsequent criminal act upon his release. Then, yet another time! Rosie boasted to the judge who was determining her sentence about her history of dealing drugs, saying, “I’m a hash man, I’ll always be a hash man, and I vow to smuggle again!” Rosie’s sentence was ultimately determined by the judge’s decision.