A British national received a more than four-year sentence in a Keelung District Court ruling for cultivating cannabis and making related products.
The English-language teacher, named Paul, bought cannabis seeds in Amsterdam while on a trip to Europe in 2023, hiding them in his luggage on his return to Taiwan, investigators said.
Later that year, Paul used a Shopee account belonging to his ex-wife — a Taiwanese — to order lighting equipment, tents and chemical fertilizers to his residence in New Taipei City for the cultivation of cannabis, they said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Paul reportedly took online lessons on cultivating cannabis plants and how to set up the equipment before planting the seeds in January last year, until the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) intervened in July, they said.
By monitoring and analyzing household electricity consumption, MJIB investigators observed abnormal energy usage at Paul’s residence, they said.
Following a raid of the residence, the MJIB uncovered 63 cannabis plants, 23 seedlings, cannabis paste, indoor cultivation equipment and chemical fertilizer, the bureau said.
Paul was quoted as saying that he previously had a habit of cannabis consumption, and therefore decided to grow cannabis for personal consumption.
He was indicted on contraventions of Article 4 of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), which forbids “manufacturing, transporting or selling Category 2 narcotics.”
Paul admitted to growing the cannabis, making him eligible for sentence reduction, the court said.
The court handed Paul a four-year, eight-month prison sentence, reduced from the minimum 10-year term prescribed by the act.
He would be deported from the country upon completion of his sentence, the court said.
In other news, the Taiwan Weed Safety Education Association and Green Sensation groups last month launched a petition urging the government to ease restrictions on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in cannabis products, as part of their years-long effort campaigning for medical-use decriminalization.
The petition contains three main requests, urging the government “to re-examine tolerance for THC, based on scientific facts,” adding that “Taiwan should join the ‘green gold rush’ as in many countries, to develop the cannabis industry.”
“Stop vilifying cannabis consumption, Taiwan should turn from ‘fear’ to ‘sensible’ management policies,” it said.
“Taiwan has set a 0.001 percent limit for THC content, with anything above that deemed to be narcotics, while the US defines narcotics as more than 0.3 percent,” the petition said, adding that research has proven that such levels do not lead to addiction.
The petition also cited a man surnamed Lee (李), who described his use of cannabis as medicine to relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, urging the government to decriminalize medical use of the drug.
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