• 22
  • November
    2011

In a very interesting story, a Colorado college student is currently being held on drug charges in Japan after a friend sent him cookies and candy laced with marijuana.

According to reports, the prisoner is Tim W., a 25-year-old chemical engineering student from the Colorado School of Mines, who was on an exchange program with Japan's Tohuku University when he was arrested this past summer.

While Tim W. holds a valid medical marijuana card with the state of Colorado, he has indicated that he did not ask for the items and did not know that his friend was going to send them to him.

Both state and federal law prohibit the shipment of marijuana, even to patients with a valid prescription.

The friend who originally sent the confiscated package to Tim W. has since informed the media that the "care package" consisted of both books and CDs. Unfortunately, he indicated that he also included three peanut butter cookies and four "Cheeba Chews" candies that were infused with marijuana.

Why would Tim W.'s friend mail him such a package?

According to Tim W.'s father, the two men had previously exchanged email messages about marijuana edibles, and the friend may have mistaken a sarcastic comment by Tim W. to mean that sending the pot-laced sweets was a good idea.

Japan has some of the strictest drug laws in the world, and authorities have recently focused their attention on shipments entering the country through the mail. The fact that the marijuana was edible or that the edibles contained only a small amount of the drug may not be sufficient to mitigate a stiff jail sentence for "possession."

Tim W.'s trial has been postponed at least until January 2012, and he faces up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted of the charges.

Stay tuned for more developments from our Denver criminal defense blog ...

This post is provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. Names have been withheld to protect the identity of the parties.

Source:

9News -Colorado, "Mines student faces 10 years in Japanese jail for pot cookies" Nov. 16, 2011