Sentencing an individual to 6 years in prison which will most definetely be a life changing experience seems extremely harsh for someone who was simply growing plants. Yes those plant might be illegal but the majority of people across this planet can see that those reasons are not valid and have no true backing to their claims. How can we send away someone for 6 years for growing mairjuana when rapists, robbers, and even murders get off with shorter sentences? Are we telling the public you are better off robbing a bank than growing a plant?

A medical marijuana grower who was caught with dozens of pounds of weed in Chicago was sentenced to six years in prison Friday.

Ryan Bailey, 29, was a mortgage broker in Chicago before he moved to Colorado to get into the medical marijuana business, CBS Chicago reports.

Bailey was allegedly holding a package of marijuana on March 9, 2010, when Chicago police raided a Northwest Side home. The drugs had been shipped to the city, but he was only charged with possession. About a year later, he was busted again -- this time in Colorado.

Though medical marijuana is legal in Colorado and his wife operates a medical marijuana dispensary, he allegedly was caught growing more than 600 plants. Colorado's medical marijuana law states that a patient can grow six plants a month for personal use, and "caregivers" can grow more -- but not that much more, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Before he was sentenced by Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood, prosecutors called Bailey the ringleader of a drug opearion that shipped 42 pounds of marijuana to a Chicago home, CBS reports. Judge Flood then handed down the six-year sentence. He is still awaiting trial on felony charges in Colorado.