In the US federal law, “Manufacture of drugs” is a legal term that includes the cultivation of marijuana.
https://www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/drug-crimes/drug-manufacturing/
This is so sad. Like the previous poster said though, the drugs should not have been there. It’s clearly illegal and many believe it is a gateway drug.
But here is a question one can raise. If one is convicted of a semi minor crime like drugs, fraud, white collar crime, copying DVD’s or whatever that gets you a sentence of a few years, aren’t you immediately kicked out of the country after being released even if you have a wife, kids, permanent residency. For many of us long term people, we have nothing left back home.
I guess that would be up to the courts to decide. Actually the US Green Card has the same stipulations. That one can lose one’s green card and permanent residency if found to have been involved in illegal activity. If you have a green card, you are supposed to immediately notify them if you move to a different address, also supposed to carry it on you at all times.
That is why many prefer to get US citizenship, which removes these conditions.
Taiwan offers the same option. Except , and this is a huge exception, that it required one to give up one’s former nationality. This latter part is different than the USA.
And should be dropped.
I wonder how this will be put out my the media, that Taiwan should look at the laws at cannabis or that cannabis is indeed the evil drug that makes you do crazy things.
20 years from now when its legal to grow in the USA (its heading in that direction) it MAY be declassified as a drug in Taiwan. Its already legal in Oakland to grow up to 58 plants so I am told. The danger here is that people with guns can come into your home and rob you of those plants. That is why a bud in Oakland iS NOT growing them, but he sure thought bout it. There’s lots of profit just selling them to legal dispensaries.
Would it be improper to put his chat id? So that he can be remembered not just as a man who killed himself over a drug sentence but as a person who was a foreigner living in Taiwan and raising a family. Faced with all the challenges that entails. And those that remember him to say a few things should they wish?
I think it would be improper right now. Just a little too soon.
Omg I’m speechless…
I feel so horrible for him and his family. This is just so so sad.
Poor thing. If only he could have been distracted, for a while, to break that thought loop. I’m really sorry you lost someone in that way.
On Being Kicked Out of the Country after doing time…
This is a generalization. Taiwan is sort of a wild west place where anything can be illegal if someone doesn’t like you. And I guess many of you foreigners who feel it’s OK to use these drugs run the risk of being caught.
One of the journals that reported on this story said he was charged with “possession”. That same journal then showed us a picture of his pot plants. What was the charge? “possession” or “manufacturing”?
What are the rules? How much of the stuff can you legally have? I’ve been to two “foreigner” parties in my twenty years of being here and twice there saw someone with that stuff and I promptly left. That was a long time ago.
The movie Taiwan oyster made me feel as if pot use is a part of Foreigner culture. I honestly wish they would just delete pot from popular culture movies, especially where it is illegal, I don’t know how to show those movies to my children and say it’s funny but you should not do it.
Back to the original question. One Forumosan seems to know survivors of the system here. Are the ex cons with local family allowed to stay on average?
It would be interesting and serve as a cautionary tale if some of the ex-cons who have reformed decided to write a book about their experiences.
PS: Sorry for my bias against abuse of drugs. I’ve seen people back home very hurt by them.
Actually I recently found out that it’s quite easy to get drugs, at least in many parts of Europe. I know so many French people who do all kinds of drugs, from the standard weed and ecstasy to stronger things like crack or speed, all the time, and they are all illegal in France.
Similarly, other than weed, which is tolerated in the Netherlands, most other drugs are illegal (though decrimialised) just like in other countries, there was this girl living in the same apartment complex as I was basically just drug dealing during the whole time she was here. Her dealer was in our kitchen from time to time as well.
As long as no one calls the police, drugs are very available everywhere, as long as you have connections, and your best bet is usually the students from universities, lots of them have weed at the very least.
Really sad. I feel for his family, as well as him… I wonder what drove him to take the risk of smuggling seeds and growing such large quantities of pot. And the degree of anguish he must have suffered between his arrest and conviction… it must have been unbearable. I wish he would have shared his troubles here to ease the burden and perhaps receive support. Maybe he couldn’t; no idea if he was out on bail or in custody the whole time. I’m unsure who he was other than a former regular here. Perhaps I met him at a happy hour years ago.
Growing pot is risky enough in the US, but here in Taiwan, where pot possession is considered a much more serious crime than at home, I know I wouldn’t want to take the risk, especially after hearing horror stories about being ratted out.
drugs are taken serious here, even weed. i think its because of the opium history. super brutal what happened but this part of the world isn’t the place to be growing and selling drugs.
The news last night were focused on the security lapses that allowed him to allegedly bring the scissors to court and then use them. Apparently, one of the two court’s metal detector machines was not calibrated enough and did not have an audible alarm.
All over sad and unfortunate circunstances that convey into a path of desperation.
Actually he was also importing poppy seeds and growing poppy according one report.
Fucking amateurs. Now a vulnerable person is dead. And there will be no shame or remorse by these stupid fuckers because he was a convicted criminal.
Seriously, we have better fucking security in my school’s English exams.
Scissors in a courtroom. Beyond fucking belief. The Evil Dumb walk amongst us.
Sad.
From what I’ve heard he’d lived in Taiwan some fifteen years and was an English teacher. When he was arrested he lost his job and was unemployable, spending his days taking his kids to and from school. Most likely he would have been deported at the end of his sentence, ending up back in the U.S. a felon in his mid-forties with no marketable skills, probably alone. If what I’ve been told is true his mid-life crisis must have yawned before him like an abyss of hopelessness.
LIfe must have been tough for him to see to make some money from cannabis growing. But being married to a local woman meant he could work any jobs. A lot of us go through tough times. With some support from a few buds he could have pulled through. I don’t think he would have been deported and if so he could probably go back to Taiwan. And even if he couldn’t go back. There is life outside of Taiwan . Perhaps an even better one.
Staying alive would have helped his wife and daughters much more then giving up. He needed some support . Guess he may not have had many close friends.
Tommy is right. He preferred to live in Taiwan but he was always a resourceful person. Going back to the USA would not have scared him. He would have found a way.
I think it was environmental factors that triggered a staggering depression, something he struggled with the begin with. The news reports say that his last words were: “I don’t want to live anymore.” That sounds a lot like depression to me.
Yes, his choices led to a series of stressful events. Which of you doesn’t make shitty choices from time to time?
For anyone who cares, I knew him to be a loyal friend, someone who would go the extra mile for you. He had a nice wife who is an accomplished dance teacher. He loved his kids. He was willing to work, not lazy. Didn’t drink much, didn’t smoke. Treated others with respect. That’s the person you don’t see in these news reports. It’s sad that many people will only know him as a criminal who killed himself. I know him as a very decent person who I will miss.
1 Like