A district court has sentenced a 78-year-old rural resident to three months of probation for growing 820 opium poppies so she could treat her arthritis, Pudong New Area People's Court said Tuesday.

The defendant, surnamed Fan, heard in 2011 that boiling the plant's crusts and smearing the liquid on her arthritis-addled legs could help treat the condition, which had not improved despite constant doctor visits, according to a court press release.

Fan obtained poppy seeds and planted them in her yard, which quickly grew into 800 seedlings.

The local government and Fan's local neighborhood committee discovered the plants during an anti-drug sweep on April 18, 2012. Opium poppies can be used to produce controlled drugs such as heroin.

Under Chinese law, growing more than 500 of any plant that can be used to manufacture drugs can be punished with fines and up to five years in prison.

However, because of Fan's advanced age and because she confessed to the crime, the court chose to give her a lenient sentence, according to the press release.

Along with probation, she was also fined 1,000 yuan ($162).