Everything is very strict! American basketball player faces death penalty in Indonesia over cannabis gummies
Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
American basketball player Jarred Shaw, a former member of the Indonesian club Tangerang Hawks, is now facing the threat of the death penalty after being detained in Jakarta.
Details: According to The Guardian, the incident occurred when Shaw went down to his apartment building’s lobby to pick up a delivery—132 cannabis-infused gummies worth about $400 in total. Waiting for him alongside the package were ten undercover police officers, who arrested him on the spot. Authorities claim the basketball player smuggled in nearly a kilogram of narcotics, an offense in Indonesia punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Shaw insists that most of the weight came from the candy base, not the cannabis itself, and maintains that he uses cannabis as medicine for Crohn's disease—an incurable inflammatory bowel condition.
The 35-year-old athlete is currently in pretrial detention, awaiting court proceedings.
"I don’t use cannabis for fun, but to ease my pain. Without it, I can’t eat or sleep properly," he told The Guardian in an interview.
The basketball player admits he made a mistake, but stresses that a punishment as severe as life imprisonment or the death penalty is unjust.
