A US national, who has lived in Taiwan for 10 years, was found guilty yesterday of growing cannabis at his residence in Changhua County and sentenced to four years in jail.
The Taiwan Changhua District Court handed down the sentence after finding that the defendant, 37-year-old Mark Alan Cartwright, violated the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), in which marijuana is listed as a category II narcotic.
Under the law, offenders who manufacture, transport, or sell category II narcotics are subject to jail terms of between seven years and life imprisonment.
They can also be fined up to NT$10 million dollars (US$334,000).
According to the court ruling, Cartwright was caught by Changhua police in April during a raid on his home in a residential building in Yuanlin Township (員林).
The police seized 286 cannabis plants, four bags of cannabis blossoms and one bag of cannabis extract paste in the operation.
During the trial, Cartwright defended himself by saying that selling and using marijuana are allowed in some other countries and areas, and that the marijuana he produced was used only for medical purposes and was not sold on the black market.
The arguments failed to persuade the presiding judge, who said the American man has lived in Taiwan for a decade — long enough for him to know that growing, manufacturing or using marijuana in this country is illegal.
Given that the defendant had a clean criminal record in Taiwan except for driving under the influence of alcohol and showed remorse for his actions, the judge gave him a lighter penalty than required by law, according to the verdict.
However, sentencing the defendant to jail was still necessary, because of the possible hazardous effects of the drug he produced, the court said.
The ruling can be appealed.
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